


Not a Year, Nowhere Near A Century

by orphan_account



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Mythology, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Caroline Forbes Goes to New Orleans, Events have different outcomes, it's a lot of dialogue, no baby plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2018-11-13 07:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 41,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11180286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: AU: Caroline thought she’d see Klaus again in about fifty years, but life had other plans. After something unexplainable happens, Caroline flees to Louisiana, hoping in a thousand years of life, Klaus might have answers. Neither of the pair realizes that all this was set in motion centuries ago. AU: mid-Season 4 onward and parts of TO Season 1WHERE CANON ENDS: Kol's death on TVD.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When I say ‘Alternate mythology’ I mean that both the origins of a character and in-universe mythology (i.e. how a certain spell works and how its undone) may be changed.

AN: The cure hunt ended differently (which will be explained) and everything after (veil dropping, Silas etc.) didn’t happen or happened differently. Katherine, Bonnie, Nadia, etc. didn’t die. Nadia still found Katherine, Originals still went to NOLA. Any changes will be explained via flashbacks.

 

Caroline looked around in shock. Every Traveller that had been surrounding her was on the ground. Not moving. “This cant be happening again."

“Oh, its happening Care Bear.”

“Katherine! For once, can you not be unhelpful?”

“As a general rule, no. “

“Look, we need to leave. Either more Travellers or someone else is going to find them. You don’t want to be here when they do.” Nadia said, trying to make both women focus. Questions and panic attacks were for later. “Let’s just get back to the house, then you two can snark each others throats out.”

The trio vamped off towards the house Nadia had compelled her way into owning. It was on the outskirts of Mystic Falls, nothing too big or fancy. It was easier to hide from Katherine’s enemies who knew Klaus had released her from his vengeance. Both Petrovas had learned early on that the key to survival was blending in.

Katherine could see Caroline begin to panic. She’d become close to the young vampire in the months since the whole cure debacle ended. After spending more time around her, the doppelganger saw something akin to the Petrova fire in the blonde. She took the younger vampire under her wing, so to speak. As Katherine saw it, Nadia and Caroline were both her daughters. This rankled Nadia a bit. After all, she spent five hundred years looking for her mother and didn’t want to be replaced. She couldn’t hate Caroline either. The girls shared too many qualities to make them serious enemies.

Katherine knew Caroline needed answers, and soon. Even if she wasn’t, in her own words, a neurotic control freak, something strange was going on and it seemed to stem from her. The women changed out of their dirty clothes and went downstairs to talk. Days after moving in, Nadia found a witch to spell the house. No vampire, not even an Original could hear what happened inside the house. Years of being a target as Katherine’s daughter, before and after turning, had made her paranoid.

“What is happening to me?” Caroline asked as she downed an entire glass of bourbon. “Tonight’s the second time that has happened with me around.”

“I’d say coincidence, but I stopped believing in those a long time ago.” Nadia said. “Whatever it is, you seem to be involved.”

“How though? I mean, am I cursed or something? Is this some weird voodoo or something?”

“We don’t need to worry about what it is just yet; we need to worry about who else knows this is happening. There may be someone out there, who knows exactly what this is, and chances are, they’re going to come after you. We need to get you out of here.”

“And go where? I…I’ve never been anywhere else. I’m not either of you; I don’t know how to live my life on the run. ”

“You’re not going on the run. We’re taking you somewhere safe.”

“Where is it safe? I’m running from something no one in this room can explain. Where am I supposed to be safe from whatever this is?!”

“New Orleans.” When Caroline gave her an ‘are you serious’ look, she elaborated. “This is no longer an isolated incident. As soon as what happened ten minutes ago happened, that city became the safest place in the world for you.”

Nadia got a look of realization on her face, “she’s right. Klaus will do literally anything in order to protect you, and it’s easiest to hide in a city with a large supernatural population.”

“Plus, he’s been around for a thousand years. He might have seen what’s happening to you before.”

“So I’m just supposed to leave my home in the middle of the night, and move to a city thousands of miles away where I only know one person and hope for the best?” Caroline sighed, “I can’t just leave! I need to tell…I need to warn Bonnie and Elena and everyone else about what’s going on. They have a right to know.”

“This isn’t about them. If you wanted them to know, you would have told them when it happened the first time. I think you know that deep down.”

“Plus, we’re not letting you go alone.”

“What?”

“Like it or not, we’re family. Family sticks together. Besides, with the Mikaelsons and Petrovas working together, nothing can stop us.”

Caroline went into the kitchen to call Liz, who was thankfully still at work. She told her she was leaving, not to worry and that she’d call when she could. She sat down and wrote a letter to Matt, knowing he’d share it with the rest of her friends. She’d mail it from some random town on the way south. Katherine and Nadia were right; she didn’t want them involved. She wasn’t willing to risk her life on the chance one of their schemes would work.

Meanwhile, Katherine and Nadia were at Whitmore, packing Caroline’s things. They took enough clothes, shoes and accessories to last a few days, while making it look like Caroline hadn’t left. With any luck, they’d be in New Orleans when the rest of the Mystic Falls gang realized she was gone. The longer they were in the dark, the longer anyone after Caroline would be as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens...

A little before 3am, Caroline and company left Mystic Falls. In the backseat of Katherine’s SUV, Caroline wondered if she’d ever see it again. The girls had planned on taking a longer route to New Orleans; Katherine had learned that the first rule of running is planting tracks in the wrong direction. They made it look like they were heading to the Midwest to cross into Canada. This would add an additional two days to the sixteen-hour trip.

After a few hours of talking, Caroline decided to take a nap. The last few days were catching up to her and she was physically and emotionally exhausted. As soon as she lay down, she was asleep.

_Caroline found herself standing in a forest alone. From behind one of the trees she heard a familiar voice call out._

_‘Caroline, Caroline. Did you miss me? Its less fun with me stuck here on the Other Side, isn’t it?’_

_It...it wasn’t possible. Caroline had seen his body. Her friends had killed him, Klaus watched him die. All for something that didn’t exist._

_‘This…this is a dream. It’s not real. Its just my mind playing tricks on me’_

_‘It’s a little real’ the voice said, putting a hand on her shoulder. He could touch her. How could he touch her? ‘ As real as it can be, with me dead and you not.’_

_‘Kol? How…. how are you here? ’ He looked exactly the same as the day he died. Mischievous smirk and all._

_‘I’m not sure sweetheart. Maybe I just missed my friend.’_

_Caroline and Kol had become friends shortly after what Caroline described as ‘the Hayley incident’. He could appreciate her anger and embarrassment over what Tyler had done and sympathize, without going overboard like his brother. It was nice, having someone to vent to about both her failed relationship and his brother’s attempts to woo her. The only thing that made her angrier than when she found his body, was finding Tyler gloating over it. Kol deserved better than that._

_‘I’m scared…. something, something’s happening to me, or around me. I don’t know.’_

_‘I know. Get to Nik. Oh don’t give me that look. The doppelganger is right. He’s you best chance now.’_

_‘What do you mean, now? Do you know what’s happening to me? Tell me!’_

_‘I don’t. I wish I did.’ Kol turned away, upset that he couldn’t help her. It was time for her to go back. ‘Wake up Caroline.’_

“Wake up Caroline” came Nadia’s frantic voice. “Please”

“What? What happened?”

“You fell asleep and went into some kind of trance. We…we couldn’t wake you up.”

Caroline nodded and sat up. It had only felt like twenty minutes had passed but the sun was already high in the sky. “How long was I asleep for?”

“Four hours. “ came Katherine’s reply. “When we noticed you hadn’t moved at all after the first hour, we pulled over.”

“You’ve been trying to wake me up for three hours?”

“Yeah, sorry about your shirt.”

The blonde looked down; there was a patch of blood on her stomach “did you stake me?”

“When shaking you, and yelling didn’t wake you up, we thought a physical wound might shock you into waking. What happened?”

“I…I saw Kol. In a forest. He could touch me. I felt him do it, even though it was a dream.”

“What did he say?”

“How is that possible? Does he know what’s happening to you?”

“He…he said he didn’t know what’s happening, but that we need to get to New Orleans soon. He also said it wasn’t reality but it wasn’t a dream, it was something in between.”

“Ok. That’s it. Next town we stop at, we feed, we send that letter and we drive straight to New Orleans. I’m not willing to risk this happening again.”

Noxburg Plains, Tennessee was even smaller than Mystic Falls. By all appearances, it was the small town that Mystic Falls would have been if not for all the supernatural forces. They arrived into town just as the high school let out, and Nadia found three senior boys willing to ‘help her change a tire’. The blood wasn’t particularly tasty, but the girls were in a rush and beggars couldn’t be choosers. As the girls drove back to civilization, Nadia noticed Caroline sitting in the backseat looking out the window despondently. She got her mothers attention and gestured for Katherine to say something. The doppelganger was better at getting Caroline to open up than she was, and she was sad her ‘sister’ was so upset.

“Everything ok back there?”

“Yeah. It’s just…this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.” Katherine raised an eyebrow. “I was supposed to show up on Klaus’s doorstep in a few decades, having already seen some of the world. Show him that I wanted him but didn’t need him to live. I wasn’t supposed to show up running from something like a scared little girl.”

Katherine nodded. As soon as Caroline convinced Klaus to leave two months ago, they’d had a frank discussion about Klaus’s feelings for Caroline and vice versa. She wasn’t thrilled her enemy was in love with her daughter, but if he was half as dedicated to his loved ones as he was to revenge, she knew nothing bad would ever happen to Caroline. She had a plan like Caroline’s too, once upon a time, only this plan was to run into Elijah after a decade or two and torture him by having moved on. Sadly, no one she found replaced him and it set off their five hundred year cycle of love, betrayal, abandonment and reconciliation.

“I know.”


	3. Flashback Part One

**MYSTIC FALLS-SEVERAL MONTHS AGO**

The situation was getting out of hand. Klaus was more than willing to let the doppelganger and the rest of the Mystic Falls gang go running after dead ends. Their dedication to curing the precious Elena mused him at first. He was perfectly willing to let the Salvatores continue chasing down false leads and dead ends until the sun burnt out. He was glad he’d told his siblings the truth so many years ago. Of the Originals, Rebekah was the most likely to run off trying to find the cure. It was better he destroyed that illusion of hers centuries ago.

Until now, that is. Klaus let his anger stew as he stormed towards the Gilbert house. This had gone far enough. He might have committed one of the sacrifices and urged the group down this path, but that was to get them off his back. With some other thing to chase, the group left him to his misdeeds. Kol and Rebekah were even playing along. The three knew the residents of Mystic Falls expected them to care about the situation one way or another. Helping escalate it, in Rebekah’s case, or trying to stop it, in Kol’s. His brother wanted to mess with the group, not kill them, and now they were overreacting. Daggering Kol, as he did, and killing him, like the doppelganger and her brother wanted, were two very different things. He broke down the front door just in time to see the Hunter stab Kol with the White Oak Stake.

“What did you do?”

“He…he was going to cut off Jeremy’s arms”

“How convenient then, that the vampire you had to kill triggers the deaths of hundreds more. Should be just enough to finish that tattoo, I’d wager.”

“You were going to kill him anyways” 

"No, I was going to dagger him. Now, I think I’ll settle for killing both of you.”

“You need us. To find the cure.”

He snorted at that. “No. I really don’t.”

Next thing he knew, he was receiving the aneurism of a lifetime.

“Invite him in. Do it.” And then the Original hybrid was trapped in the living room.

“When you come back here, without the cure, I’ll enjoy trying to decide who to kill first.”

Bonnie, Jeremy and Elena looked at each other questioningly. This was the first time Klaus expressed doubt in their chances of finding it. Bonnie and Jeremy walked out. Elena stayed for a moment, curios about something. “Why are you so sure we won’t find it all of a sudden?”

“Why are you so sure I told you everything? Or that I told you anything true?”

The doppelganger scoffed and stormed out. His comment would drill into her brain until they came back to town, wondering what they’d missed.

As he sat trapped in the living room, he texted Rebekah telling her exactly what happened. He also told her to stick to the plan; Kol’s death would make their revenge so much sweeter.

Klaus woke up the next morning to Tyler Lockwood gloating. He would have found it rather amusing, if the pup hadn’t been standing over his brother’s burnt corpse. As Klaus was about to make a comment about Carol Lockwood’s death, someone else came in.

“What are you doing?”

“Gloating.”

“Hello Caroline.”

“Seriously?! Do you really think its smart to antagonize him? He’s trapped, for now. Its not like he’s going to stay that way.”

“He killed my mom! Why shouldn’t I gloat about Kol’s death?”

“Kol’s dead?” Klaus was surprised that she didn’t know. Clearly, she hadn’t been a part of this plan. He saw her collect herself, before turning to his ex-minion. “Make yourself useful then. Go get his coffin.”

“Why should I?”

“If we leave the body here for days, it’s going to start to smell. Between us, Klaus is least likely to kill me. Now go.”

Tyler gave him one last dirty look before walking out. As soon as he left, she turned to Klaus, not knowing what to say. All that would come out is “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you love.”

“He was my friend. I…I can’t believe they did this. All for something that probably won’t work out.”

Klaus wanted to tell her the truth, that he knew it wouldn’t, but didn’t. Partly because he didn’t want to show all his cards; partly because he knew this wasn’t the time. As he struggled for something to say, the mutt came back.

“Here. That’s the most I’m doing for that jackass.” He turned to glare at Klaus. “I can’t wait for them to come back with the cure so I can jam it down your throat.”

Klaus started laughing, deeply, hysterically laughing. The other occupants of the house looked at him like he was crazy, well crazier. As it went on, it began to creep Tyler out.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’ll find out in a few hours I expect.”

**NOVA SCOTIA**

Shane, Bonnie, Elena, Jeremy, Stefan, Damon and Rebekah sat in the rented boat quietly, lost in their own thoughts. All occupants except the Original and Shane were anxious about what the island would entail. Shane was excited to finally wake Silas, while the blonde sat planning her revenge. Sure, the looks on their faces would be priceless, but killing her brother needed to have consequences.

As they reached the coordinates of the island, the group looked around in shock. “I…. I don’t understand. This doesn’t make sense. Was the map wrong?”

How could the island not be there? Rebekah started smirking and the group turned to look at her, “did you really think it would be this easy?”

Bonnie began to give Rebekah an aneurism. “Where is the island?”

Rebekah laughed, “I don’t know. All I knew was that you would never actually find the cure. “

Shane looked disgruntled, Jeremy confused, Bonnie and the vampires looked livid. “You knew?”

“Of course I knew, Elena. I’ve known for centuries.”

Elena remembered Klaus’s last words before she left. “We need to call Klaus. He knows something.”

**GILBERT HOUSE**

“Hey, Elena…no I’m already there…. ok” Caroline had returned from taking Kol’s body to the Mikaelson house just in time to interrupt the stare-off Tyler and Klaus were having. “Umm…Elena wants to talk to you.”

“By all means, love. Put it on speaker though, and have her do the same.”

Caroline relayed the instructions to Elena and then complied. “Hello, Elena. And others.”

“Klaus. “

“To what do I owe this surprise?”

“How long? How long have you known the island where Silas is buried isn’t in Nova Scotia?” Came the voice of Stefan.

“Oh, but it is. You just can’t get to it.“

“What? That makes no sense. You wanted us to find the cure.”

“No, I wanted you lot distracted. “ There was silence on the other end of the line. Caroline and Tyler looked at Klaus perplexed. Clearly, he needed to spell it out for them. “Did you honestly think I’d wait 800 years to look into one of the few things in existence that can harm me? Hunter or no Hunter, I still had an eight-century head start on you. When I told you that story, Stefan, Rebekah and I left out the part where our family, sans Finn of course, searched for the island and discovered Qetsiyah’s little secret.”

“How? How can you make an island disappear?”

“You’d be surprised how many powerful spells have been lost to the mists of time.” He said dramatically, “Of course, she couldn’t remove the island’s mention in existing mythology. Nature wouldn’t bend that far.”

“So, she just made an entire island invisible.” Damon stated.

“No, that would be too easy to undo. I’m sure with all the Expression running through the Bennett witch’s veins right now, she could undo it in a heartbeat. No, she merely…convinced a descendant to change one tiny detail about its location. Latitude and longitidue are hard to change, alitidue on the other hand... ”

“She sunk it.”

“To close to the sea floor. Further down that any scuba gear is designed to go. See, you need a witch and a Hunter to get the cure. It’s a little hard to do with a few million gallons of ocean water pressing down on them. I guess after over a thousand years, she decided Silas needed to suffer even more for his transgressions. “ A stunned silence filled the room. Klaus had, as always, outplayed them. To add insult to injury, Klaus finished his monologue with a message for Rebekah, “I think, sister, that now its your turn to have some fun.” The call then disconnected.

A few seconds later, the barrier in the living room went down. Klaus ran over to Tyler, broke his neck and walked out. As Caroline rushed after him, he turned and said,

“Bonnie is fine. Hopefully. It depends on how much Rebekah was willing to listen. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a brother to mourn.”

**NOVA SCOTIA**

Everyone on the boat froze once Klaus finished his speech. They all turned to look at Rebekah, fearful of what she was going to do. The Original ran over to Bonnie and jabbed a needle into her neck, seconds later the witch collapsed. Nobody moved as Rebekah began to circle the others.

“Now, its my turn to have fun.” The blonde said menacingly. “You know, I planned on Nik’s revelation being my revenge for everything. Daggering me, bringing Mikael to town, desiccating my brother. But now, now that’s not quite enough. I’m not quite satisfied.”

“Rebekah, we-“ Stefan started to say.

“Killed my brother, because of your precious Elena. I can’t just let that go.” The blonde said. She then clasped her hands together and looked at each person. “Who wants to go first? If no one volunteers, I get to pick someone.”

“Fine. I’ll go.” Shane said, thinking he’d be on the receiving end of the least painful punishment. “What will your vengeance against me be?”

“Give me one second.” Rebekah said before turning to the three vampires. She broke Stefan and Damon’s necks before turning to Elena and attempted to compel her. “Are you on vervain Elena?”

“No. Its out of my system by now.”

“How do I know you’re not lying though?” she mused. “I suppose a test is in order. Elena, break Jeremy’s arm. “ The brunette walked over to her brother, apologizing profusely as she complied. Satisfied, Rebekah asked the question she most needed the answer to. “Who knew about this plot to kill Kol?”

“The six of us, Tyler and Hayley.” The brunette said robotically.

“But not Matt or Caroline?”

“Matt didn’t want anything to do with the search for the cure. Caroline would have tried to warn him or stop us.”

“Great.” The blonde said smiling. Suddenly an idea struck her and she compelled Elena once more. “No matter what happens, you will not turn your humanity off. You will not kill yourself or get someone else to kill you. You will not look away unless I tell you to. Do you understand?”

The doppelganger nodded and Rebekah turned to the professor who eyed her suspiciously. “Do you still want to go first?”

“Yes.” The man said.

“Fine. First, you’re going to help me chain these two up.” Rebekah said gesturing to the Salvatores. “I know you brought vervain ropes.”

A few minutes later, the Salvatores woke up, arms chained to the railing of the boat. “So nice of you boys to join us. Now where was I?”

“You were going to make me pay for my part in killing your brother.” Shane deadpanned.

“Right. Shane, you have two options. Option one: I break every bone in your body one at a time, heal you and then repeat that until I get bored.”

“I pick option two.” The man said.

“Now how did I guess that?” the blonde said, running below deck and coming back with a box. Opening it, she pulled out various knives. “You’re going to kill the Hunter for me, slowly. Here’s how it works, if Jeremy tries to stop you, I stab Bonnie in a semi-vital place, not enough to kill her, but enough to hurt. If you try to kill yourself, I turn you. If Elena tries to stop you, I compel her to kill Jeremy and endure the Hunter’s Curse. Now, start by stabbing him just below the collar bone.”

An hour later, Jeremy was a bloody mess on the deck of the boat and Elena lay crying. It took Jeremy Gilbert fifty-six minutes to die from blood loss. Shane whispered an apology to Elena as he put the knife down. Rebekah walked over to Bonnie’s prone body and slapped her awake. The witch sat up confused and let out a scream once she saw Jeremy. She tried to give Rebekah an aneurism but it wouldn’t work.

“Oh, are you trying to hurt me? I added a little something to that sedative. Your magic is AWOL for the next few days.” The blonde said, before turning back to the others. “Now, onto Shane’s punishment.”

“I thought that was my punishment.”

“No, that was Elena’s. She has to live forever knowing her only family is dead because of her.” Rebekah said, before vamping over to the professor and attaching his arm to something. “This is your punishment.” She said as she tossed something overboard and the man followed.

“What did you just do?” Bonnie yelled.

“I thought it was obvious, he’s chained to a cinderblock that I just threw to the bottom of the ocean. He gets to drown to death.” Rebekah went over to the steering wheel and turned the boat around. “Now that that’s over with, time to go home.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Generic 'Caroline&co show up in New Orleans' and 'Klaus senses something's wrong' chapter.

New Orleans was a beautiful city, if you didn’t know what lived there. Its history and unique culture drew tourists in by the thousands. The cobbled streets and rustic charm hid the darkness within. For three hundred years, the city was a sanctuary for creatures of the night and children of the moon. The humans learned to ignore the blood and offered up the tourists to maintain peace. The city had changed since the last time Klaus had been there. He arrived in New Orleans after nearly a century, to find his son wasn’t dead and was running the city. The wolves were gone and the witches were frightened.

Klaus, and by extent his siblings, did what any sane, rational, well-adjusted person would do. He started a war and changed it back. The last few months had seen a lot of bloodshed.

First, the witches who tried to trick him into believing the she-wolf was pregnant. He wasn’t a doctor, but if someone is even a few months pregnant, they tend to look and smell different. Plus, in a thousand years alive, he’d been around pregnant women before. The ‘heartbeat’ the witches made him hear was too slow. He would have found it insulting if it wasn’t so pathetic. He killed all but one, Sophie, as a warning to the rest of the coven.

Next, a few vampires. Marcel needed to be reminded who was really in charge. Klaus built the city, and should the mood strike him, he was more than willing to burn it to the ground to prove a point. He left the wolves alone for two reasons: one, they made good allies; two, many seemed to defer to Hayley for some reason. By not killing her, he’d gained their respect. Although there was something about a few of the wolves that gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Unfortunately, Marcel’s secret weapon died too. Her status as a Harvest girl damned her. When it became obvious that the living wouldn’t complete the Harvest, the Ancestors intervened. They tricked her into overexerting her magic so that she’d die. Luckily, she, along with the other Harvest girls, was resurrected, but she also had a lot less magic now, as punishment.

Klaus was pleased he’d gotten his city back, but knew this peace was temporary. Marcel had ruled for a century, he knew it’d take more than just one fight to secure his throne. Elijah and Rebekah had been noticeably more helpful than they had been in the past few centuries. Perhaps it was due to Kol’s death; perhaps they wanted the city back just as much as he did. Either way, he wasn’t going to complain. Rebekah was still incredibly codependent and Elijah was still a stick in the mud, sure, but not killing Rebekah’s latest ‘true love’ or Katerina when he was last in Mystic Falls, bought him back some goodwill he’d lost over the centuries.

When Klaus thought of the small town, he had to smile. Caroline finally admitted what she felt for him. Now, all he had to do was wait. A thousand years had taught him that patience, for the right cause, was worth it in the long run. Plus, the longer it took for her to join him, the more time he had to sort out the mess in this city. He was king, yes, but it wasn’t quite good enough for his queen yet.

The hybrid was pulled out of his musings by the ringing of his phone. He answered without looking, “What?”

“Do you always answer your phone like that?” a melodic voice asked. His eyes widened, it was Caroline.

“I’m sorry, love. I should have check to see who was calling first. I only answer like that when it’s not a beautiful woman like you on the line.”

“I see your lines are a cliché as ever.”

“You caught me. Not that I’m upset to hear from you, but why did you call?” He guessed at her response; she called him because her friends needed something.

“About that…I might have just driven past the Welcome to New Orleans sign and need a place to stay.” She was here? In the city, he wasn’t prepared for that. He thought she needed him to rush back to Virginia for some trivial thing. He searched his brain for a way to respond. “Are you seriously going to make me beg?”

“No, sorry. I’m just surprised to hear that you came all this way. May I inquire as to why?”

“It’s complicated. Just… tell me where to go.” He could hear the exhaustion in her voice; whatever she was here for must be serious.

He gave her the address of the Abattoir, and paced the courtyard while he waited.

“Niklaus, may I ask why you’re pacing?”

“She’s coming here.” Elijah gave him a blank look. “Caroline, she’s coming here. She’s in the city, she needs somewhere to stay.”

Elijah hadn’t seen his brother so spun up since they were human. He vaguely remembered the blonde vampire from Mystic Falls. However Niklaus saw this girl, his younger brother was afraid he would ruin it. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Just then, the two heard a car pull up, and three people walk towards the entrance. The brothers stood watching as a blonde and two brunettes walked into the courtyard. Caroline wasn’t the only surprised visitor to the Quarter, Elijah’s beloved Katerina and a brunette neither one had met had come with her. Four of them stood frozen, unsure of what to do or say. Finally, the blonde broke the tension.

“Hi Klaus. Elijah. I don’t know if you remember me, I’m Caroline.”

“I remember you Miss Forbes. You made quite an impression my brother. Two of my brothers in fact”

It was then that Klaus found his voice. “Not to interrupt this little reunion, but why is Katerina here and who is she?” he gestured to the unknown vampire.

“Right. Klaus, Elijah, I’d like you to meet Nadia Petrova.”

“Petrova, as in-“

“Yes, she’s my daughter. “ Katherine said. She noticed Caroline was practically dead on her feet. “Look, you can interrogate us tomorrow. We’re all exhausted; we need a place to stay. Can you show us the way to a bedroom or do we need to find a hotel?”

Klaus glowered at her for a second and then gestured for the trio to follow him. They went to the third floor and he pointed to three rooms side by side. “Pick whichever room you’d like. If you two will excuse me, I need to talk to Caroline.”

“Klaus, it can wait. She needs her rest.” Nadia said protectively. She knew a little about Caroline’s non-relationship relationship with Klaus. The last few days put her in a weird place and she knew her sister wasn’t ready for any grand gestures or promises of eternity with him.

“Please” Caroline whispered. “I…I can't do an emotional conversation right now.” her voice broke.

Klaus looked back and forth between the other two vampires. They both looked worried about the blonde, terrified even. The blonde looked as if the only thing keeping her upright was Katerina’s hand on her shoulder. He nodded and wished them a good night.

As he walked downstairs, he heard both Petrovas whispering to Caroline; one calming her down, the other telling her none of this was her fault. When he reached the ground floor, Elijah was still there, looking pensively at the room the girls had just entered.

“That’s something I have never seen her do.”

“What do you mean brother?”

“Katerina comforting someone. She’s being warm, maternal even. “

Klaus gave a noncommittal noise and walked off. They’d get to the bottom of this soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

The new arrivals slept until the early afternoon the next day. The Petrovas took turns checking on Caroline during the night just in case she went into another trance. After they woke up, the girls found their way to the kitchen, where they came face-to-face with Rebekah.

“What are you doing here?”

“Decided to visit the city. Your brothers said we could stay here."

“Great. So the entire Mystic Falls gang is here to muck up an already complicated situation. Its not like we don’t have our own problems.”

“They don’t know.” Caroline said quietly, “The only people who know we’re here is the four of us and your brothers. I don’t even think they realize we’re gone yet.”

This surprised Rebekah, who thought the group from Mystic Falls had come because they angered another threat bigger than themselves. As she looked between the three younger vampires, she saw they each had a look she’s seen before. On her brothers’ faces during their thousand years running from Mikael. As she went to ask what the trio was running from, and why they needed to involve her family, Klaus walked in.

“Bekah, please stop harassing our guests.”

“Harassing? How is me asking why the blonde vampire always sent to distract you, a random vampire I met in Prague two years ago, and that little wench are here harassing?”

“Because I know you.” Rebekah stomped out of the room. He then turned to the aforementioned group, “Now, care to explain why you two and my least favorite doppelganger is here?”

“Really? I’m your least favorite. Elena, who sent Mikael after you, let one of your brothers be killed and actively participated in killing another, you like more than me.”

“What can I say? You’ve left an impression.” Klaus didn’t want to admit that she had a point. All Katerina did was run, Elena did more to actively disrupt his plans. “Why are you here?”

“I’m not plotting against you. That’s all you need to know right now.”

He knew she saw up to something and would get to the bottom of it, just not right now. Klaus looked at the blonde. Whatever reason the group had for being here, he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. “I suppose I’ll accept that, for now. Love, how would you like a tour of the Quarter from someone who built it?”

Caroline looked at him pensively. She stopped denying her attraction to him months ago, but wasn’t in the mood for promises of forever. She then looked to Katherine, who probably wanted some alone time with Elijah, and nodded. “Sure, as long as we get beignets. Also, no hitting on me.”

The pair left shortly after, with the hybrid giving Caroline goo-goo eyes when she wasn’t looking. The mother and daughter talked quietly for a little bit, trying to figure out their next step. Elijah entered the kitchen, looking troubled about something. He looked up when he noticed the room wasn’t empty.

“Good afternoon Katerina, Nadia.” He greeted them nervously. He hadn’t seen or heard from Katerina since they discovered the cure was unattainable. Now she was here, and he was unsure of how to proceed. There was a lot he wanted to say, but none of it would come out.

Nadia looked between her mother and Elijah, who she knew had been her mother’s star-crossed lover. She knew this conversation was going to get awkward and got up to leave. “I think you two have some things to discuss, I’m going to, you know, leave so you can do that.”

“Wait. Some of the things I’m curious about involve you and I’d like to know. If that’s acceptable to you.” Nadia sat back down and gestured for him to begin. “When did you find your mother or your mother find you?”

“It was shortly after you left Mystic Falls for New Orleans.” Katherine said, “She showed up at the Boarding House one day. She knew stuff no one else knew about me, not even you. “

“We agreed to stay there for a while. “

“Why now? Why not centuries ago?”

“I did. I’ve been looking for my mother my whole life. It just took this long to find her.”

“May I ask why you’re here, in New Orleans, now?”

The pair looked at each other, they hadn’t decided how much about their connection with Caroline they were willing to share. Nadia decided to answer as truthfully and as vaguely as possible. “Caroline, well, she’s become a friend in the last few months. When she decided to travel down here, I told her I’d go with her. Katherine came because we’re not quite ready to split up yet.”

Elijah nodded, everything about this situation seemed to circle back to Miss Forbes. He found it odd, that she not only seemed to draw in Niklaus, but Katerina as well. Especially given that she spent much of the last few years working against both. He also could sense that something had happened to her to drive all three women down here. His curiosity about Nadia satisfied for now, he turned to Katerina.

“How have you been, Katerina?”

“That’s my cue to leave.” Nadia said walking out. Her mother’s romantic life was something she didn’t need to know about. She decided to explore the city for a bit, and see if any of her old contacts were still there.

After she left, Elijah and Katherine stared at each other. “I’ve been fine. I’m still getting over finding Nadia again and being free of your brother.”

“Niklaus gave you your freedom?”

“He didn’t tell you? He did, in a way, when he was in Mystic Falls a few months ago.”

This news stumped Elijah. No matter how much he dreamt of it, he believed his brother would never let go of his revenge. Now, hopefully, they could be together. No more deceit, no more lies. Just them.

“Do…do you still-? Are you-?”

“Still in love with you? Yes. Elijah, for the first time in five centuries I can have what I want, and part of that is you.” Elijah crossed the room instantly and kissed her. When they broke apart, she smiled, “however, you’ve got a few things to make up for.” She said as she walked out of the room, with Elijah following close behind.

 

“So, what fancy pretentious name did you give the place we’re staying?”

“Ouch, love. I’m nowhere near as stuck-up as my older brother. “ When she gave him a look, he continued, “For the record, I call it the Abattoir.”

“You named your house ‘the Slaughterhouse’?”

“It was during my more angry period”

“Of course.”

Knowing he’d screwed up by reminding her of his past sins, he tried to change the subject. “So what would you like to see?”

“You’re the expert. Shouldn’t you be telling me?”

Klaus saw this as an opportunity. She was letting him show her what the city has to offer. Like he had promised her months ago. He decided to start with some of the better-known landmarks to satisfy the tourist in her before progressing to some of his favorite hidden places. They walked for a few hours, chatting about unimportant things. As they walked, he was thankful they didn’t run into any acquaintances of his. He wanted one day with her that didn’t involve murdering someone.

As they came towards a bar, he realized there was something he should have said earlier. He turned to her and said, “I know I’ve said it before, but I need to thank you.”

She looked at him, confused. “For what?”

“Kol. When…when he died, you took care of his body. Made sure he didn’t get left there. I think you’re the only non-Original that even mourned him. Thank you for being my brother’s friend.”

Caroline stopped suddenly, remembering her dream/trance the previous day. ‘ _Maybe I just missed my friend’_ he had said. She didn’t know if Klaus bringing him up was a coincidence or a sign, but it made her feel uncomfortable, like she was being watched. “I was lucky to have a friend like him.” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

“I know you didn’t come here for me or to go sightseeing.” Klaus said in a serious tone as they walked into Rousseau’s. “Whatever you’re here for, whatever you need, when you’re ready, I will help.”

Caroline sighed as she took a seat, “I know. I just…wanted one day to be a normal tourist. “

As they went back to their small talk, a blonde bartender approached them. “Hey Klaus”

“Camille. This is Caroline, a friend from Mystic Falls.”

“Nice to meet you. What can I get you?”

The pair got their drinks and another customer distracted the bartender.

 

Nadia figured the easiest place to start was St. Anne's Church. It has been more than 50 years since she was last in New Orleans, and it was one of the few places that still existed. The entire city felt tense to her, like it was waiting to be attacked. She remembered the feeling from living through both World Wars.

"She's not here." The vampire turned towards the voice, confused. She saw a priest standing by the altar, staring at her. "Davina. She's not here."

"I have no idea who that is. Or why I should care. I'm...looking for some old friends."

The man paused for a second and observed her. In seconds he could tell she was a vampire and hoped this didn’t mean more trouble. "You'll probably find them at a bar called Rousseau's."

He sent her in the right direction and with a nod she left. She was walking down the street when she heard someone call her name, well her alias.

“Natalia Atoma. Do my eyes deceive me?”

“Marcel Gerard.” The brunette said as she turned around. “It’s been a while

“Indeed it has. What brings you to my city?”

“Dubrovnik was getting a little dull and I had a sudden craving for gumbo.”

“You want gumbo? I know just the place.” Marcel said, leading her into the restaurant Father Kieran had told her about. They sat and ordered. “Sophie makes the best damn gumbo in New Orleans.”

After eating and chatting for a while, Nadia decided to address the elephant in the room. She knew four or five vampires had followed them in from the street and sat idly around the establishment. “Marcel? I’m more than twice your age, so I’m only gonna ask once. What’s with the entourage?”

“They’re my protection.”

“Against what?”

“Klaus Mikaelson, my sire, the Original. We’re in the middle of a war over who controls the city.” Marcel said, watching Nadia’s face for a reaction.

Now the tension in the city made sense, a supernatural war would be felt but not explicable to the humans. She sense the man was up to something. “Ah, yes. The hybrid. I crossed paths with his sister not too long ago.”

“Call it paranoia but I find it suspicious, the oldest non-Original vampire I’ve met coming to town right before I’m about to strike.”

“You think I’m here to fight? We both know that if I was, I’d have snapped you in half already. I try to avoid the hybrid as much as possible. He did kill my entire family after all. Why exactly would I help him?” Nadia asked probing.

“He killed your whole family?” Marcel said. “I thought your mother survived.”

“Klaus didn’t kill her, but my mother’s death was still his fault. He hunted Katherine and Katherine caused my mother’s death. In the end, doesn’t that make it his fault?”

Marcel stared at her for a moment, inspecting her. He had met Nadia in 1926, in New Orleans, when she was still trying to locate Katherine Pierce. If she knew why Lily died, then she definitely would hate Klaus, making her an ideal ally. “Any chance you’d be interested in some revenge?”

Nadia searched his face for a second; surprised he was about to give away his plan so quickly. “I’m listening, but I suggest a change in venue.” Nadia walked out of the building, knowing Marcel would follow. He led her to an apartment on the edge of the French Quarter and waved his followers off. When they were alone, he spoke.

“How serious are you about this?”

“Deadly. I’ve been holding this grudge for half a millennium.”

“Good. I managed to get ahold of something capable of incapacitating an Original. Now, I just need to lure him somewhere and use it.”

“What then?” Nadia probed. “This ‘something’ will slow him down, it won't be able to stop or kill him.”

“No, but it will keep him incapacitated long enough for me to bury him in The Garden.”

“You’re just going to lock him up somewhere?”

“And leave him to rot for eternity. Death is too good for him.”

“I agree.”

“I could use your help.” He said, causing Nadia to turn and look at him questioningly. “Most of my guys are younger than me. You may not be an Original, but you’re a much better match for him than any of us. “

“I’ve been dreaming of punching that asshat in the face for centuries. When’s the victory party?”

“It’ll take me another day to trick Rebekah into luring Klaus somewhere, so two days from now.”

“Glad to hear it.” Came a voice from the doorway. Before Marcel could move, Katherine ran over and snapped his neck. “Did he seriously just reveal his entire plan to you like some cheesy Bond villain?”

“Surprisingly, yes. Why are you here?”

“Elijah told me about Marcel and the war. I tracked you here from the bar. And since we’re on Team Klaus now, I didn’t want to blow your cover.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will be updated on Wednesdays.
> 
> This chapter is half filler, half actual plot. Events down in New Orleans get interesting and we find out what's happening in Mystic Falls.

**New Orleans**

Halfway through Klaus regaling Caroline with stories of pre-Revolution France, Nadia sat down next to them, and spoke without looking up.

“We need to talk. I ran into a few old friends who want to hurt you, Klaus. They’ve decided to recruit me.” He was shocked. The brunette hadn’t even been in town for a day and already knew something was up. “We need to discuss this somewhere less…. busy.”

They found themselves back at the compound, waiting for his siblings to arrive. “What exactly is this grand plot?” the hybrid asked, sounding bored.

“Marcel thinks he can trick your sister into luring you somewhere so he can incapacitate you.”

“With what?” Rebekah asked.

“He said it could incapacitate you long enough to bury you in the garden, but not what it was. I don't know if he actually has something that could do that or not, but he seems to think he does"

"Why would he approach you?"

"I’m the oldest non-Original he knows. I met him in 1926 while tracking my mother. He thinks I hate you for killing my whole family."

"And do you?"

"I appreciate the irony of cause and effect. If she hadn’t escaped in 1492, I wouldn’t have found my mother or been here to tell you about Marcel’s plan. If she hadn’t escaped, she never would have gone to Mystic Falls and quite a few people, including Caroline, never would have become vampires. She did escape, and as a result of all those things happening, Caroline convinced you to end this vendetta against my family. In a way, you should be thanking her." Nadia hated Klaus, at least a part of her did. She also needed him to either save Caroline from what was happening to her or protect her from it. She learned a long time ago that hating someone and needing someone weren’t mutually exclusive.

"Even so, why would Marcel trust the daughter of Katerina Petrova?"

"He doesn't know who my mother is. He thinks her name was Lily Atoma and that in Paris during 1645 Katherine betrayed and killed her."

"So the same story you told me?" Rebekah said.

"When people ask why I’m tracking Katherine, I tell them that she killed my mother, which is the truth. If they press for more details, I tell them that story. It didn’t take long to figure out that telling people who my mother is didn’t exactly win me any allies.” Nadia said.

“Not that this isn’t an interesting conversation, but what are we going to do about Marcel?” Caroline asked. “He thinks he found a way to weaken you. Whether its true or not, we need to prepare for it.”

“Excellent point, love. Bekah, has Marcel said anything to you?”

“No, but it sounds like the wanker is about to tell me. When I know the location, so will you.”

“I think we’re skipping ahead, brother. How could Marcellus disarm you?” Elijah said.

“I can think of five ways. Desiccation, which he’d need a witch for. A dagger, but those don’t work on you, and we don’t know if he’s aware of that. Some other dark object, if he can locate one and the right witch to activate it. He could try overwhelming you with sheer numbers in a fight, but he’d lose men that way. Lastly, an insane amount of vervain used on you, but it would also harm him. Also none of these plans take into account what Elijah or Rebekah would do in response.” Katherine stated. The group turned to look at her. “What? You think in five centuries it never once occurred to me to try and incapacitate Klaus?”

“You sure have given this a great deal of thought, Katerina.”

“Yes, I thought about how I’d get rid of my immortal greatest enemy. I did not, however, go through with any of it for various reasons. “ Katherine said. “Then again, if I hadn’t considered this, we’d have no idea what Marcel could possibly do.”

“So, what do we do?” Caroline asked.

“I ‘miraculously’ escape from Katherine, and go find Marcel. If he tells me what he’s planning, I give everyone a heads up and betray him at the last second. If he doesn’t, I still betray him at the last second. Regardless, everyone needs to be ready at any given moment.” Nadia said. She then turned to Katherine. “I need you to break my neck and leave me somewhere. Preferably, somewhere isolated with a stake in my chest.”

“Why do you want your mother to stake you?”

“As far as Marcel knows, Katherine broke his neck and dragged me off somewhere. If I show up at is place, hours later and injured, he’ll still believe I’m on his side.”

“Come on. I know a place in the warehouse district.”

 

**Mystic Falls**  

Matt walked into the boardinghouse, holding an envelope and looking nervous. Elena and Bonnie who were in the foyer looked up at his arrival and greeted him. “Hey guys, where is everyone?” Matt asked.

“Stefan and Damon are upstairs. Tyler’s at home and Jeremy is off doing whatever resurrected teenagers do. “ Elena answered. “No idea about Caroline though.” She added as an afterthought.

“Can you call them? There’s something you guys need to hear.” Matt said, still looking at the envelope in his hand. Both girls noticed how serious and worried Matt looked and complied. Twenty minutes later, everyone was in the living room.

“Why are we here Prom King?” Damon asked.

“It’s about Caroline.”

“What about her?”

“She left town.” Everyone gasped when he said this. They’d seen her not five days ago and she seemed completely fine and happy there. “I got this letter this morning.

_ Dear Matt, _

_ I’ve decided I need some space away from Mystic Falls. A lot has happened in the last few years and a lot has changed. There’s a lot I still need to think about and figure out. I’m immortal and I have no idea what I want to spend my eternity doing. I can’t answer with those questions or think about that stuff in Mystic Falls. I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you this in person. I’m fine, I promise and I’ll come back as soon as I’m ready.  _

_ Much love, Caroline. _

It was postmarked in rural Tennessee. “

“She left? How did we not notice she left? I had no idea she felt like this.” Elena said.

“I don’t think she wanted us to.” Stefan said. “This is something she needs to do on her own.”

“But we have no idea where she is. For all we know, she didn’t even write that letter.”

“It’s her handwriting.” Matt said. “I asked the sheriff who said Caroline told her she was leaving but not where she was going. Liz didn’t think anything was amiss.”

“There’s one more person we could ask.” Stefan said refusing to make eye contact with Elena or Damon.

“No! No, definitely not. We are not bringing him into this.” Damon said. “If we tell Klaus Caroline is missing he will kill all of us.”

“I was referring to Katherine, actually.”

“That’s even worse!“

“Not really” Tyler said. “They got closer after the whole cure situation. It’s a weird friendship but it works. We all would have tried to talk Care out of leaving, she wouldn’t. So it makes sense that if anyone knows where Caroline is, its Katherine.”

“Great. Now we just need to find the untraceable psychotic bitch.”

The group began to argue, no one noticing the figure standing outside the window, listening intently to their conversation. The Mystic Falls Gang was the Travellers last resort to find Caroline. If she told them she was gone, then she must really have left.

 

Sloan sat in her car, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. How hard was it to find one vampire in a town of only 6,000 people? Caroline Forbes may have gotten the jump on the Travellers twice but she couldn’t hide or run away from her destiny forever. She looked up as Mia approached the car looking apprehensive. “Well, where is she?”

 “We don’t know. We haven’t found any traces of her anywhere in town for the last three days.”

“Is it possible she left?”

“Possible, yes. But who is able to pack up their entire life in under two hours?”

“Katherine Pierce, who would definitely help her. She’s already in the wind.” Sloan was starting to get angry. Over half the Travellers brought themselves back from the dead because of Caroline and now they had no way of finding her. “Fantastic.”

 


	7. Flashback Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Kol's death and events in Nova Scotia

**MYSTIC FALLS-SEVERAL MONTHS AGO**

Elena was sobbing as Stefan and Damon carried Jeremy’s body into the Gilbert House. As soon as his body was on the couch, she collapsed next to it, hysterical. Damon sat down next to her and held her. Caroline, who was cleaning up the mess from Kol’s death, looked up and gasped in shock.“What happened?”

“Rebekah happened.” Stefan said. “As soon as Klaus hung up, she decided to get revenge on all of us. She forced Shane to stab Jeremy to death and made Elena watch. She took away Bonnie’s magic. She left Shane in the ocean to die. And then, she just turned the boat around and we went home.”

“She killed Jeremy and Shane and just stopped?” Caroline asked, incredulous.

“I don’t think so. I think she’s just getting started. This is stage one of her master plan.” Damon said from the floor. “I guess Klaus isn’t the only drama queen in the family.”

“What…what are we going to do about the body?” Caroline asked.

“Nothing.” Bonnie said cryptically from the doorway. “My magic’s only gone for a little longer. Once I have it back, I’ll bring him back.”

“Didn’t the spirits turn against you last time?”

“They don’t control me anymore.”

“What happened to you?” Stefan asked. “You were here, with Klaus, when all this happened. Did he do something?”

“He broke Tyler’s neck and left as soon as the barrier went down. Either he’s not going to punish me, since I had nothing to do with Kol’s death or he’s playing the long game.”

“Do you…think you-?”

“Could talk him and Rebekah out of their revenge?” Caroline finished for him. “No. You didn’t see him after Kol died. He’s not going to just let this go because I ask him to.” Caroline’s phone beeped and she decided to use that as an excuse to leave. "I gotta go. I told my mom I'd help her out with something." Caroline turned and walked out of the house.

 

She headed home and changed into something a little more reserved. She then found her way outside the Mikaelson house. Standing for a second staring at the door she gathered the courage to knock. The tear-stricken face of Rebekah answered the door.

When the Original saw the blonde, she scowled. “Are you seriously here to talk Nik into calling off his plans?" She said spitefully. "You people really have no tact."

“I’m not here for Klaus; I’m here for Kol. I’m here to say goodbye to my friend. “ Caroline said honestly. “And Rebekah? I’m very sorry for your loss. I didn’t know what they were planning.”

“I know. I compelled Elena to tell me who was involved. “ Rebekah said as she moved out of the way so Caroline could enter. “You’ll find him in the parlor at the end of the hall.”

Caroline nodded and made her way into the house. As she got to the parlor, she was found Klaus standing over Kol’s coffin, staring blankly at it, lost in thought. She walked up behind him, trying not to startle him. When she reached out to squeeze his shoulder in comfort, he jumped and bit her in the forearm. “Ouch. What the hell?” Caroline yelled. “I thought you heard me come in.”

“What’s with all the ruckus?” Rebekah said running in.

“I startled your brother and he bit me!”

“I’m so tremendously sorry Caroline. I…I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening around me.” Klaus said, running out of the room and returning with a glass. He bit his wrist open and let his blood fill it. Handing it to her, he said, “Here you go sweetheart. “

“Thanks” the baby vampire responded, draining the glass. “I’m sorry for startling you. I guess I should have knocked or something.” She put the glass down and looked at the hybrid. “I guess I’ll come back later.”

“Why are you here, love?”

“I came to say goodbye to my friend. I may not have known him for very long, but he was still my friend and I’m sad that he’s gone. I just…wish we could have had more time.“ Caroline said, voice trailing off. She then shook herself back to reality and spoke. “I’m sorry, he was your brother and here I am talking about my grief. I’m such a horrible person.”

“You’re the least horrible person I know.” Klaus said. “This isn’t some competition. My grief doesn’t invalidate yours. I actually find solace in it, knowing my family isn’t alone in mourning Kol.”

“I still think I should give your family some time alone.”

“That’s up to you, but I won’t force you to leave.” Klaus said, turning back to the casket. “I must ask something of you, Caroline.” The blonde turned to look at the hybrid and he continued. “Do not try to talk my family out of our revenge. I know your friends will ask you to speak on their behalf, in their defense. Please, do not ask me to-“

“They already have and I said no.” the blonde quietly admitted.

“You did?” Rebekah asked. “Why?”

“Because Kol was my friend, and they killed him. They knew he was my friend and they still did it. “ The blonde said. “I didn’t even know he was dead until I walked in on Tyler gloating about it. The worst part though, was what happened when they got back to Elena’s house.”

“What happened?”

“They didn’t even give me a fake apology for his death; not even a ‘we’re sorry we killed him but it’s for the greater good’. They asked if you hurt me after you hung up on them. Then, Stefan tried to convince me to talk you out of it, and I refused. I told them you weren’t going to just let this go. Something occurred to me on the way over here.”

“What was it?”

“The reverse doesn’t happen. Ever. I’ve never been asked to defend your family to them or talk them out of something involving you. They expect your feelings for me to keep them safe, even as they exploit them. It’s like they don’t understand that actions have consequences.”

"So what will you do?"

"Nothing. Would I prefer that no one died? Yes. Am I expecting that to happen? No. I only ask that you leave Matt out of this. He didn't know any of this was happening."

"I suppose I can do that."

 

**Across town**

"How are you going to bring Jeremy back?"

"Expression." Bonnie said. "Pastor Young killed 12 humans, Klaus killed 12 hybrids. If another sacrifice of 12 happens, it completes an Expression Triangle and I can lower the veil."

"You want to kill 12 people?" Stefan asked shocked.

"I want to bring Jeremy back."

"Ok but how will the triangle bring Jer back?" Elena asked, sounding like she was considering it.

"I draw power from the sacrifice, and a powerful object to lower the veil."

"Won't that bring back other people as well?"

"Maybe. It'll only be down long enough to get him, then I'll put it back up."

Stefan didn't say anything, concerned about both Bonnie and Elena’s mental states.


	8. Chapter 8

Nadia called a few hours later, informing everyone that Marcel believed her story but hadn't elaborated on his plan anymore. The others retreated to the study and went into ‘war planning mode’ as Caroline saw it. After about an hour, Elijah and Rebekah both left to track down some old allies in case a distraction or show of force was needed. Caroline and Klaus sat in silence for a moment before the blonde spoke.

"What will you do?" Caroline asked the hybrid. "Regardless of what the plan is, going alone is stupid, even for you."

"Who said I was going alone? That's why I even have hybrids." Caroline gave him a questioning look. "Wait, did you think the 15 or so in Mystic Falls were the only ones I made? I'm an evil mastermind and that just sounds incredibly short sighted.”

The young vampire was a little disappointed but not surprised. “When this Marcel crisis is over, you and I are gonna talk.”

“I look forward to it.” The hybrid said. He was still curious about Caroline’s motivations for defending Katerina when he last visited Mystic Falls and why she came to New Orleans. He knew what running for one’s life looked like and didn’t like seeing it from Caroline. The uncharacteristic “There’s a lot I…was too distracted to tell you during our little get-together in Mystic Falls.” The hybrid said suggestively and the blonde began to blush.

“So, what’s my job in your master plan?” Caroline asked, wanting to change the subject.

“You don’t have one. You’re staying here because I don’t want you to be there.”

“What? Why not?” the blonde asked insulted. “I want to help.”

“I’m aware of that, love. I can’t have you there.” The blonde huffed and crossed her arms.

“I’m not useless, you know. I might not be indestructible or centuries old, but I’m not incapable of fighting. Everyone always does this to me and its so annoying!” Caroline’s eyes began to water as she remember every time Elena and Bonnie left her out of something; every time the Salvatores lied to her about a crisis. “Do you have any idea what its like to know you’re only included in something as a distraction or back-up plan? It sucks! I thought I was finished with that when I left home.” Her voice trailed off as she finished.

Klaus stood up and walked over to her. He tentatively pulled her into a hug as he spoke. “I don’t think you’re useless, sweetheart, and I’m sorry that you thought I was saying I did. I can’t let you get hurt.” Caroline looked like she was about to interrupt but Klaus continued. “I know that you’re more than capable of handling yourself. It’s not about your fighting skills or age or anything like that. It’s about my feelings for you. You’re the first person I’ve cared about in centuries. If you got hurt, because of me, because I blindly drag into this fight, I don’t know what I would do. Marcel knows me far too well to not single you out as a target and I know him well enough to know that.”

“You can’t hide me from every enemy you’ve ever had, you know.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try.”

Caroline had no idea how to respond to that, so she didn’t. Klaus could tell Caroline wanted to ask for more information about Marcel and his connection to the family, but was afraid to. The hybrid decided to volunteer the information anyway. He was telling Caroline the basics of who Marcel was, why he was fighting against Klaus and what happened with the witches when Rebekah walked in.

“Marcel just called me, he wasn’t sure if you’d answer. He wanted to tell you he found something worrisome on the edge of the Quarter. He wants you to meet him there tomorrow morning.”

“That’s remarkably fast.” Klaus said. “I expected him to wait a few more days, lull both of us into a sense of security and then pull this.”

“He’s rushing because he has to.” Caroline said. The siblings looked at her questioningly. “I forgot, you don’t remember what its like to be the weaker opponent; you haven't been truly afraid in a long time. He knows someone overheard at least part of his plan. If he sticks to his initial plan, there’s more of a risk that you’ll find out. It’s in his best interest right now is to speed things along before Katherine can tell you anything. “


	9. Flashback Part Three

**Mystic Falls-Several Months Ago**

Two nights after everyone returned, Caroline was running through the forest, hunting. She’d just caught a rabbit when she heard faint chanting from far away. Running towards it, she found Bonnie on the ground, surrounded by people. A woman was kneeling over her with a knife. Caroline ran over and stabbed the woman with the blade she was holding. A male voice yelled "No" as the remaining people hit the ground.

"It is complete." Bonnie said, eyes rolling back into her head.

"Caroline, do you know what you just did?" Stefan asked

"Save Bonnie."

"You killed 12 witches, you completed the expression triangle."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Now Bonnie can bring Jeremy back. She's going to mess with the balance of nature again, give into dark magic. It's going to consume her."

"I.... I didn't know. How do we stop her?"

"We can't. We're going to lose her."

 

Bonnie was almost ready. All she needed was for the full moon to end and then she could harness the expression triangle and Silas’ tombstone to lower the Veil. She stood in at the spot of the final sacrifice waiting

"Bonnie, please don't do this." Stefan begged. "You can't come back from this."

"I have to. Jeremy didn't deserve to die. He definitely didn't deserve to die like that. If dark magic brings him back, then so be it." Bonnie then gave Stefan and aneurism and began chanting. She noticed movement out of the corner of her eyes but continued. She felt a shift in the wind and knew the Veil was down.

"Bonnie?" Jeremy's voice called out. "What...what did you do?"

"I brought you back. You didn't deserve to die."

"Actually he did. " Rebekah said from her spot by a tree. "And so do you." Before either could speak, Rebekah ran over and stuck her bleeding arm into Bonnie’s mouth. "This is for killing my brother." The blonde then broke the witch's neck.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?!" Jeremy asked.

"Get my revenge."

"She lowered the Veil! You killed the only person who can put it back up."

"You're telling me there's no other person on the planet that can raise it?"

"Not that I know of!"

"Oh well." Fifteen minutes later Bonnie gasped back to life.

"What did you do?"

"Made you a vampire. Oh wait. There's one more step." The blonde walked over and forces her mouth open. As Bonnie struggled, she poured blood down her throat. "Now it's complete. You will keep your emotions on and you will not kill yourself. Have fun with your resurrected enemies." The blonde said before traipsing off.

 

After Bonnie died, all hell broke loose. The Veil was down inside the triangle and no one in Mystic Falls was safe. The dead walked among the living and the citizens had yet to find a witch capable of raising the Veil. Caroline ran through the woods terrified. The Originals had left town following Bonnie's death so she was in her own. Stefan and Damon were being haunted by Lexi and Vicki, Matt by Finn and Jeremy was stuck comforting a new vampire who he felt the urge to kill.

Initially Caroline thought she'd be safe. Everyone she killed was human; they didn't reside on the Other Side. Sadly, she forgot about Jules' pack.

"Come on sweet pea, you can't hide forever. Wait until the full moon, then we can really have fun." Brady's taunting voice called out. "It’s a good thing I'm not like you, then you could run to the nearest humans home and be safe. This is getting annoying. The sooner you surrender, the sooner I’ll get bored and kill you."

Caroline continued running, until she ran quite literally into Katherine. "What the hell blondie?"

"I...I'm a little busy running for my life to deal with you right-"

"Katherine, thanks for catching my prey for me. Now hand her over and I won't hunt you down next."

"What do you want with her?"

"To torture and kill her because it was so entertaining last time.” Katherine looked like she was debating something.

"What did I ever do to you? I didn't kill you or make you trigger your gene. What have I done to deserve this?"

"You're a vampire. That's reason enough."

"It's really not." A woman's voice said from behind a tree.

"Who the hell are-"

Before Brady could finish, the resurrected wolf was knocked out. An unknown redhead came out of the forest and said to both girls. "That will only hold him off for a few minutes. Make them count."

The blonde didn't argue and took off. Reaching her house, she realized Katherine had followed her.

"Umm... how is going home going to stop him?"

"It's outside the Expression Triangle. If the dead leave it, they go back to the Other Side."

"And they say blondes are dumb."

"What do you want Katherine?" Caroline asked impatiently.

"Why aren't you off at the Salvatore's?" Katherine asked, dodging the questions.

"Elena's being haunted by the tomb vampires, Vicki and Connor. Everyone's in ‘protect Elena’ mode or ‘help Bonnie adjust’ mode and left me on my own. Again."

"You really need better friends Blondie."

"What I need us for someone to figure out how to raise the Veil instead of babying Elena."

"I might be able to help with the wolf problem." Katherine said cryptically.

"Why would you help me? Why didn't you just hand me over?"

"This may come as a shock to you, but I actually like you. You've embraced what you are instead of denying it like Stefan or resenting others for it like Damon. Besides, Brady might hate you but his entire pack hates me. I was gonna be next either way.”

"So what's your plan?"

"We 'kill' him, and lock him in an old safe the Salvatore's have. He keeps suffocating and can't escape."

"And you're going to help me out of the goodness of your heart?"

"No, it simple. You’re not getting help from anyone else. Neither am I. I help you dodge your dead, you help me dodge mine."

Caroline wanted to decline in principle but Katherine made an excellent point. “Fine. But we deal with Brady first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to show the beginning of the Katholine friendship, to both fill in some holes and juxtapose with the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Everyone was up early the next morning, waiting. The three Original siblings were quietly discussing every contingency plan Klaus had come up with. Nadia and Katherine were trying to remain calm and keep Caroline, who felt incredibly uneasy about the situation, from freaking out.

Shortly before eight-thirty, Nadia left to attend one last ‘war council’ with Marcel and set up the trap for the hybrid. Klaus had arranged to meet Marcel around ten, so that left an hour and half to go over the plan one more time. Caroline sat nervously tapping her fingers against the table. She hadn’t been left alone since mystic falls and worried another incident would happen.

“I don’t like this. Something feels off about this whole thing.”

“It’ll be fine Care bear. We’ll be back before you’re done day-dreaming about Klaus.” Katherine said, trying to calm the blonde. 

Klaus walked into the abandoned building to meet Marcel. He could faintly hear multiple people approach the building and hoped Amy’s spell would hold. A witch contact of Elijah’s met them earlier that day and performed a cloaking spell on them, rendering Rebekah and Elijah visible but impossible to sense to any non-Original. Regardless of what Marcel was going to do, he didn’t stand a chance against all three Originals or the wily Katherine Pierce.

Klaus turned when he heard the door open and addressed Marcel. “So what’s this dangerous thing you’re so worried about?”

Marcel stopped a few feet from Klaus and said, “You.” The younger vampire whistled and twenty more vampires entered the building, circling Klaus. “You’re too dangerous to stay in my city.”

“Didn’t we already have this fight? I seem to remember you losing, horrifically. What makes this time any different?”

“I have this.” Marcel said, holding up an old looking dagger. “And I have numbers.”

“Wow, you have a knife. That’s groundbreaking. And yes, you have numbers.” Klaus said before rubbing his hands together. “But all your friends are toddlers compared to me, so it’s not exactly a fair fight.”

“This knife causes pain so intense, even you wouldn’t be able to move. It’s still twenty against one, and I have her.” Marcel said, as Nadia stepped forward. “She’s only half as old as you, sure. But she has quite the hatred for you.”

“Actually, its twenty against four.” Rebekah said, walking up behind the Marcel. “My siblings and I, plus we’ve got Katherine Pierce.” Elijah and Katherine entered side-by-side.

“This isn’t your fight, but if I must dagger you two, I will. Bringing Katherine helps me. She did kill my friend’s mother.”

“I’ve killed a lot of people. You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

Nadia was staring Katherine down and not speaking, so Marcel told the story. “Lily Atoma, Paris in 1645. You were on the run from Klaus, she took you in. when his minions showed up, you pointed at her mother and said ‘that is Katerina Petrova. She is the one you want.’ So they took her away and killed her.”

The Originals and Katherine looked at each other and then all four burst out laughing. After a few moments, everyone except Katherine calmed down. “I’m sorry. You know that story is complete bullshit, right? I can’t believe you fell for that!” Marcel looked at her, puzzled, then he looked at Nadia for an explanation. Before he could ask, Katherine continued. “By 1645, I’d been running from Klaus for a century and a half. There’s no way any of his minions would’ve mistaken anyone for me. But Nadia knows that.”

         Marcel looked to Nadia, silently asking for an explanation. Nadia grabbed the dagger from him and rushed over to stand by Rebekah. “You said Katherine Pierce killed your mother.”

“She did kill my mother.” Nadia stated. “Only it wasn’t in Paris, it was in England. And it wasn’t 1645, it was April 6th 1492\. My mother hung herself.” When Nadia saw the blank look on Marcel’s face, she continued. “Katherine killed my mother because Katherine is my mother. oh, and my name’s Nadia Petrova, not Nadia Atoma.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re still going to put you down Klaus.” Marcel said, about to order his men forward.

“I’m afraid I cannot let that happen.” A voice called from the entrance to the building. Everyone looked and saw a brunette woman. “I can’t let you sabotage something that took my people years of planning.” The woman raised her hand, and Marcel’s forces fell to the ground unconscious. When the woman looked directly at Katherine and Nadia, both vampires gasped. She was one of the Travellers that tried to attack Caroline.

“What are you doing here?” Nadia asked the witch venomously.

“Where is she?” the woman asked.

“None of your business, considering you tried to kill her.”

“You can’t hide her forever and she can’t run forever. Soon, I think you’ll all coming running to us for answers.” the witch stated, before turnign to walk away. She threw one last comment over her shoulder. “Tell me, have the visions started yet?”

Katherine and Nadia looked at each other and bolted from the building. The Mikaelsons followed suit, wondering who that woman was and what her comments meant. Reaching the Abattoir, they found Nadia and Katherine upstairs crouching next to Caroline who was staring into blankly space.

“This cannot be happening again.” Nadia said frantic. Katherine kept shaking Caroline, trying to get a reaction.

“What is wrong with her?” klaus asked worriedly.

“She's in some kind of trance.” Nadia said.

“What’s causing it?”

“We don’t know! That’s why we came to you.” Katherine yelled. “The Travellers kept coming after Caroline so we left. Then she had some weird trance-vision on the way here.”

“So wake her up!”

“We don’t know how. Shaking her doesn’t work, yelling doesn’t work. Trying to enter her mind didn’t work. I even tried to stabbing her, hoping to shock her awake and that did nothing.”

“How’d she wake up last time?”

“According to her, the dream ended and Kol sent her back.”

“Kol?”

“Yeah, she talked to him on whatever plane she was on. He claimed it was somewhere in between the Other Side and our world.”

“So we just have to wait for her to wake up?”

“Yes.”


	11. Chapter 11

Caroline sat in the library, trying not to think about all the ways Klaus’ plan could go wrong. This ‘Marcel’ person could have white oak, or a witch as powerful as Esther. This could be a distraction or some manipulation to gain leverage. Even if things went according to plan, Marcel could still hurt Klaus or Katherine or someone else, even if he didn’t kill them. As Caroline sat trying to focus on _Jane Eyre,_ she felt her eyelids begin to droop. Within seconds, she was asleep.

_Caroline sat up and realized she was in the forest again, except this time it looked a little different. This time she was standing on the edge of the forest, looking at a small village. A very old-looking village. It appeared to be abandoned, but that didn’t concern her; last time the forest was abandoned as well._

_“You need to tell him.” A voice said from next to her. Caroline turned and saw a teenage boy with long brown hair standing next to her. He looked like an extra from Game of Thrones._

_“Tell who what? Who are you?” she asked._

_“Nik about these dreams. He’s probably trying to wake you up right now. This involves him too, he deserves to know.”_

_“I have to agree with my little brother here, sweetheart.” Caroline turned and saw Kol standing in the village. Except, Kol had long hair and he seemed younger somehow._

_“Little brother?” Caroline asked. “You said Rebekah was the youngest.”_

_“Elena never told you? Rebekah is the youngest Original, Henrik was the youngest of my siblings. His death made Esther turn us into vampires.”_

_“So, now I’m talking to not one, but two dead Mikaelsons. Great, just when I thought this was a normal dream.”_

_“I think you’ve known for awhile that what’s happening to you is far from normal.” Kol said, seeing through Caroline’s response. “But Henrik’s right, you need to tell Nik, this involves him too.” The brothers turned and walked into the village, disappearing._

_“What involves him too?” Caroline said as the dream collapsed around her._

“Please, love, wake up.” She heard at the edge of her mind. Opening her eyes, she saw Klaus hovering over her, with a worried Katherine and Elijah standing over his shoulder.

“How…how long was I out for?” she asked.

“We don’t know.” Katherine said. “One of the Travellers showed up at our little meeting and made a vague yet ominous comment. When we got back here, you were already in a trance.”

“What did you see?” Klaus asked and Caroline looked away. She remembered everything that happened but didn’t know how to start explaining. Klaus grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. “Caroline, please, what did you see? I will do anything to help you but I need to know.”

“I…I ‘woke up’ on the edge of a forest, looking at this old village. I heard a voice, so I turned and saw this boy. He couldn’t have been older than 13. He said I needed to tell you what was going on. Then Kol showed up, but he wasn’t the Kol I saw last time. He was younger somehow. He agreed with the boy and said the boy was…”

“The boy was what?” Elijah asked.

“Kol said his name was Henrik, that he was your youngest brother. “ Caroline said looking between the three siblings.

“Describe him.” Rebekah said.

“He was around 13, brown hair, brown eyes. He was wearing a grey tunic-like shirt and brown pants.” Elijah and Rebekah turned to look at Klaus, who looked like he was a world away. “What is it?”

“That’s the clothes Henrik was wearing when he died.” Elijah answered. “What happened next?”

“Kol told me I needed to tell Klaus what was happening, that it involved him too. They both walked away and I woke up.”

“I would love to help, but I don’t even know what’s happening. You ladies haven’t told me anything.” Klaus bit out.

“It started right before the Veil went back up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we find out how the Veil went back up and how this whole mess started


	12. Flashback Part Four (Kinda)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caroline tells the story of how this all started

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The boardinghouse was put under Matt’s name shortly after Jeremy died (because reasons). Only the ‘living’ vampires have been invited in and Katherine tricked Matt into inviting her in.  
> The Other Side is where the few supernatural beings who can’t move on (for whatever reason) or choose not to reside. Most being don’t have unfinished business and move on to find peace.  
> Tyler ran away after Klaus broke his neck, and is in self-imposed exile.
> 
> Anything in Caroline's POV is her retelling the story, the 'Other POV' kinda hints at what's happening behind the scenes.

“It started right before the Veil went back up. Or at least, that's the beginning from what I remember. That's the first time I saw one of the Travellers.”

**Caroline POV (End of April)**

Caroline and Katherine were exhausted when they walked into the boardinghouse. Tricking Brady the psychotic werewolf into the safe hadn’t been an easy feat. Luckily, dead werewolves were just as susceptible to wolfsbane as live ones. After hiding the safe, the pair ran into a few of the tomb vampires that wanted a word with Katherine. One broken high heel and ruined outfit later, the doppelganger decided dodging the dead wasn’t good enough. As they entered the house, Katherine called out, “Listen up, idiots. Running and hiding isn’t gonna work anymore.” Everyone ran downstairs when they heard her voice.

“What do you want, Katherine?” Elena spat out.

“That’s a loaded question. In this case, I want the Veil back up. I want all the people I’ve killed here to actually stay dead. And if you were smart, you would too. Unless of course you want to spend eternity hiding in here from the boring Original and Vicki Donovan.”

“Then leave.”

“Nah, I like it here too much. Without the walking dead. Figure out how to get the Veil back up.” She said, glaring at Bonnie and Elena in particular.

“Or what? If you kill us, we’ll just come back.”

“Not if I kill you outside the Expression Triangle. Hop to it Bon-Bon.”

“I can’t! I’m a vampire now, I don’t have any magic.”

“Figure out how and I’ll do the rest.” Katherine said before storming out.

Stefan noticed that Caroline looked exhausted and wondered how she was doing. “Hey, how are you doing with all this?”

“Let’s see. The Veil has been down for nearly two months. Brady, remember Brady the wolf that tortured me, spent the last two days chasing me through the woods because torturing me was such fun last time. I tried telling you I needed help, but you weren’t answering your phone.”

“I’m sorry. Its just…Elena needed my help and Bonnie’s-“

“Yeah, I know. Just because they need your help doesn’t mean I don’t.” Caroline said frustrated. “It doesn’t matter, I handled it. I’m gonna head home.” The blonde left without another word.

She walked, briskly but at a human speed, away from the house, wondering how long the quest to put the Veil back up would take. As she neared her house, she heard rustling behind her. She turned around and saw a middle aged man who looked sort of familiar.

“I’m not here to harm you, little one.” The man said, holding his hands up. “It’s been some time since I last saw you.”

“I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“No. You’re Caroline Elizabeth Forbes. Born in Mystic Falls October 10, 1992. Killed in Mystic Falls February 26, 2010.”

“So you’ve been stalking me.” Because what Caroline needed right now was another stalker. At least Klaus was occasionally helpful.

“I have spent years watching over you on the Other Side. You’re a very special girl Caroline. With a very important future ahead of you.”

“Now you definitely have me confused with someone else.” The blonde said sadly. “I’m a baby vampire with OCD. I’m not important, I’m never the one important things happen to.”

“You have no idea how wrong you are. How long we-“

“That’s enough, Randulf, “ a woman with a thick Eastern European accent said, coming out of nowhere. “It has already been written. Telling her what she will become serves us no purpose now.”

The man looked ready to argue, but thought better of it. He nodded and walked away. “What the hell was that? What was he talking about?”

“The affairs of the dead are no concern for the living.” The woman said vaguely.

“Even though they involve me?”

“Especially since they involve you. Knowing your destiny is a dangerous thing.”

“What if I don’t believe in destiny? I can make my own choices, I have free will.”

“Yes, you do. But, the universe has a way of making certain things happen.” The woman stated knowingly. “Call your friends. Tell them the Veil can be restored. They just need another full moon and some Bennett witches.” The woman turned and walked away.

“Wait! Who are you?”

“Just another dead witch.”

 

Putting up the Veil had been rather easy, all things considered. Sheila and Emily Bennett were more than willing to restore the Veil and bring Nature back into balance. The only delay in raising the Veil came from the living world, ironically. The Veil restoration required two or more witches from the same bloodline, one alive, the other deceased. Since Bonnie had no magic, the town had to wait for Lucy to arrive to perform the spell. The older Bennett was understandably annoyed at being dragged back to Mystic Falls. She was even angrier when she discovered why Bonnie’s magic couldn’t be utilized. By the end of the first week of May, the dead had vanished from Mystic Falls.

 

Caroline was walking home from school, happy that things were relatively normal for once. No one was dying and senior prom was on the way. After that, graduation and the excitement of college were on the horizon. As Caroline went to unlock her front door, she heard a familiar voice.

“Hello Caroline.” It was the witch who kept talking about her destiny.

“How are you here?” Caroline asked frantically. “The Veil went back up, and you were dead.”

“Yes it did and yes I was.” The woman said. “Your friend Bonnie isn’t the only person who can perform a resurrection.”

“Why are you here? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“I need you to do something for me, Caroline. Something very important.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” the blonde said agitated.

“Die.” The witch said, before staking Caroline in the chest.

**MODERN DAY**

“Wait, she staked you?” Rebekah asked.

“Yeah. But she missed my heart on purpose. ” Caroline sighed. “She wasn’t trying to kill me, she was trying to manipulate me into doing something.”

“Manipulate you into what, sweetheart?”

“Call you I guess. The next time I saw her, you know what happened.”

 

**Two days before Graduation**

**Unknown POV**

“The hybrid is still in New Orleans. Your gamble staking her didn’t work out, Irina.” Sloan said, staring at the witch in question.

“How was I to know he’d send one of his minions to keep an eye on things?”

“You’ve watched them from the Afterlife for how long? You should have known. “ The Traveller leader said dismissively. “The prophecy cannot be fulfilled if we don’t push her towards him.”

“What do you suggest?” another traveller asked.

Irina’s eyes lit up as she got an idea. “We put her in actual danger. The kind only Niklause Mikaelson can save her from.”

“You’re not suggesting-“

“We’ve waited centuries for this. Suffered for centuries for this. I’d say a few days of hallucinations will be worth it.”

 

**That Night**

**Caroline POV**

“I thought I told you to die, Caroline.” Irina said to the blonde vampire.

“You missed. I don’t take orders from the dead anyway.” She said confidently.

“You are a fool. Thinking you can stand in the way of fate. My stake didn’t work, but this will.” The witch said, beckoning to someone behind Caroline. The vampire turned and saw a man walking towards them. When he was a few feet away, she heard a familiar crack that accompanied a werewolf transformation. Caroline began to feel uneasy when she saw the smile on the witch’s face, illuminated by the rising full moon. “I’d say you have maybe five minutes before Kevin here starts hunting you.”

Caroline wasted no time and ran away. The witch had dragged her deep into the woods to confront Caroline, making sure she wouldn’t have enough time to get to safety, even with her vampire speed. Deciding the boardinghouse was closer than home, she knocked furiously on the door just as Kevin’s howls reached her ears.

“What do you want, Blondie?” Damon asked answering the door.

“No time, just let me in.,” she said, looking frantically behind her. She heard the wolf getting closer to the house.

“I’m the only one here and you definitely don’t want to see me. Why are you here?”

“Can you not be a dick for five seconds and get out of the doorway? Do you not hear what’s outside?”

Damon was about to give a snappy retort, when he noticed a glowing pair of yellow eyes. He opened the door a little wider so Caroline could run in. He was closing the door when the wolf’s jaw closed on his forearm. “Not again.”

“Oh my god, Damon!” Caroline yelled.

The wolf used the temporary distraction to force his way into the house. He mashed his jaw at Caroline but she moved too quickly for him to latch onto her arm. She ran backwards into an end table, tipping it over. Picking up the first thing she touched, a lamp, she swung it at the wolf. The animal stumbled backwards in shock and tried to steady himself. The blonde ran over to the fireplace, picking up a poker. The wolf regained his composure and leaped over the couch to tackle her. Caroline acted on instinct and drove the iron poker through the wolf’s abdomen. He fell to the ground and then stopped moving. Caroline ran over to Damon.

“I…I’m so sorry. I’m gonna call Klaus. You’re gonna be fine.”

“Klaus is never gonna give me his blood, Barbie. We both know that.”

“He might if I ask him to. I’ll call Stefan while I’m at it.” Caroline ran into the kitchen to grab towels to clean up the mess. Taking a moment to breathe, she dialed Klaus, who didn’t answer. She then called Stefan and Elena giving them very few details, just that Damon was bitten and she was trying to reach Klaus. Within minutes, both vampires were there.

“What the hell happened? How’d a wolf get here with none of us knowing?”

“This witch, I saw her in the woods right before nightfall. She was ranting about messing with fate or something. Next thing I knew, I was running from him.” Caroline yelled, frantic. “I’m gonna try Klaus again.”

The blonde took two steps and then fell. Looking down at her hand, she noticed a tiny wound on her finger, which was still bleeding. One of the werewolf’s teeth had grazed her finger; she was dying of a werewolf bite too. Stefan walked over to her and saw she was bitten. “Shit. Klaus is gonna be pissed.”

“Just…call him, please.” The blonde gasped out. “Call everyone in New Orleans if you have to. I’m…I’m gonna go to sleep.” Caroline lost consciousness as Matt and Bonnie came inside.

Both vampires drifted in and out of consciousness for the next three hours. Once, Caroline was lucid enough to hear someone, probably Stefan, talking. “Damon and Caroline…. bit…. unknown werewolf…. I don’t know…. Damon’s arm…Caroline’s hand….” The blonde fell back asleep before she could hear anymore.

Caroline was starting to hallucinate when she heard someone walk into the boardinghouse. “Ah, I see Kevin’s suicide mission was at least successful.” It was the witch she’d seen earlier. “It’s nothing personal, you’re ju-“

Irina never got to finish. Unfortunately for her, she started gloating just as Klaus was reaching the boardinghouse. When he heard the witch gloating, he saw red. Rushing into the house, he tore her heart from her chest before she could even turn to face him.

“Hello Caroline.” The hybrid said, wiping blood from his hands. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

“Enough with the goo-goo eyes. I’m dying over here. Can we speed this up?” Damon said from his spot on the couch.

“Right.” Klaus walked over to the bar, grabbed a glass, bit his wrist open and poured some of his blood into it. Looking bored, he gave the glass to Elena before waltzing over to Caroline who was lying on the other couch. “You’re just a magnet for trouble, aren’t you?”

“You know, most of the time when I hallucinate you, you’re a lot nicer than this.” Caroline said wistfully. “It’s too bad he’s not really here.”

“Love, its me.” Klaus said, sitting down next to her. She didn’t respond, so he reached down and brushed a piece of hair out of her face. “I’m here.”

She startled when he touched her. “Klaus? You’re really here? How did you get here so fast?”

“We can talk about that later. After I heal you.” He said softly, offering her his arm. When he saw she was too weak to sit up, he lifted her up so she could lean against him. A second later, he felt her bite into his arm. The pair sat in silence as she quietly drank from him. When Caroline pulled her mouth away, he spoke. “Feeling better sweetheart?”

“Much better. Thanks.” She said shyly, looking down at where her wound was. “I can’t believe such a tiny graze almost killed me.”

“Happens to the best of us.” He said, looking down at her blood-covered hand. “Well, not me, of course” he added with a smirk. He pulled her hand up to his mouth and licked the blood off. “There, like it never even happened.”

Both were brought back to reality when they heard a scoff coming from behind them. Damon was sitting up on the couch with Elena standing next to him with her arms crossed. “You healed them. Now leave.”

“I don’t think I will. For all you lot know, there are more wolves out there. I’d hate to have to come back.”

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” the brunette argued.

“Hey!” Caroline said, trying to prevent a fight. “Look, whatever you think of him, he saved Damon and I when he didn’t have to. Something you haven’t even bothered to thank him for.” The brunette looked away slightly ashamed. Caroline then turned to Klaus. “Walk me home?”

The pair left and headed towards Caroline’s house. “May I ask, how did you end up dying of a wolf bite in the Salvatore house?”

“I was in the woods, and I came across this witch. The one you killed earlier. She was ranting about something to do with trying to escape destiny or something like that. Next thing I knew, I was running from a fully-transformed werewolf.”

“Why’d you go to the boardinghouse?”

“My house was further away; it just seemed smarter.”

Klaus nodded, processing what she’d told him. This was the second time something life-threatening had happened to Caroline in the last month, he didn’t like coincidences.

“How’d you get here so fast?” Caroline asked as they reached her door. “Even if you left the second Stefan called you, it’s still a 12 hour drive and a three hour flight.”

“Interesting that you know how long it takes to get to New Orleans.”

“I almost died earlier and I’m exhausted. Just answer the question please.”

“I was already on my way.” When Caroline raised one eyebrow, he elaborated. “I received your graduation announcement. It was very subtle. I assume you’re expecting cash?”

“That, or a mini fridge “

“Hmm…I suppose I’ll need to go shopping then. I’ll see you tomorrow Caroline.” Klaus said, kissing her on the cheek.

Graduation went off without a hitch the next day. For once the school year ended with no supernatural threat or world-ending disaster hanging over their heads. As Klaus got into his car to drive to the airport, Caroline turned to him and said, “I’ll be waiting for that mini fridge.”

“I never promised a mini fridge. I was going to give you a first class ticket to New Orleans, but I knew you’d say no. So I opted for something else. Tyler is now free to return to Mystic Falls.”

“What?”

“He’s your first love, I intend to be your last. However long it takes.”

**A few days later-Other POV**

“Irina failed, yet again.” One of the Travellers said.

“Irina was impatient.” Sloan corrected. “I always knew it would be her downfall.”

“What do we do now?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? We’ve spent centuries waiting for this! It’s destiny! We can’t sit by and let something years in the making fall apart.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that we might be the problem?”

“What do you mean?”

“We keep putting Caroline in life-or-death situations to get Klaus here. She’s his soul mate, and one way or another, the prophecy will be fulfilled. Like you said, it’s destined to happen. But they have to get together on their own. We can nudge her in the right direction, but if we try to force it, we will push them further apart.” The other Travellers sat in silence. “I know, we’ve been waiting years for this. Most of us returned from the dead to ensure the prophecy is fulfilled; we can’t afford to ruin it now.”

“I just want our people to stop being cursed.”

**MODERN DAY**

“After that, things went back to normal. Until a few days ago, at least.” Caroline said, wrapping up her story.

 


	13. Chapter 13

“So the Travellers have been after you since then? Because of some destiny you have?” Rebekah asked to which Caroline nodded. “And you don’t know what it is?”

“No, Randolph or Randy or whoever he is got interrupted before he could tell me anything useful.”

“How does this involve me or our dearly departed brothers?”

“I have no idea.” Caroline said defeated “It just…it feels like all of this, everything the Travellers did, was trying to push us together or something.”

“Why did you come here, Miss Forbes?” Elijah asked.

“Because I have no idea what’s happening to me. After Klaus killed that one Traveller, everything was fine for a while. Then the Travellers cornered me two weeks ago and when they got within five feet of me, they all got knocked out. A week later, the same thing happened. And now, I’m talking to dead people in hallucinations I’m having. I just…hoped that in a thousand years of life, one of you might know what’s going on.”

“Hey.” Nadia said, “we’re gonna figure it out, okay?” Caroline nodded but didn’t say anything. The older vampire then turned to the Mikaelsons. “What do you know about the Travellers?”

“Not much, honestly.” Elijah answered. “Just that they’re not quite witches but somehow related and they’re cursed.”

“They’re cursed?” Katherine asked skeptical.

“Yes, years ago. Kol always knew more about witches than I did, but from what he told me, a spell they performed angered others in the magical community. As recompense, they were cursed. They cannot find peace in the afterlife or practice magic except under certain, rare circumstances.”

“Why would they be interested in me?” Caroline asked in a small voice.

“I do not know.”

“I think its time we fix that, brother. Don’t you?” Klaus said, standing up. “Elijah, call the witch you called earlier. Rebekah, find Davina. I’ll find Sophie. Maybe they, or the Ancestors, can give some insight.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Katherine asked.

“Stay here. Take care of Caroline.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of Klaus! I’m not a child. I can’t just sit here, waiting for another vision or a Traveller to come kill me. I need to do something.”

“Then do something normal.” Rebekah suggested. “Read a book. Find something to do that has nothing to do with witches or anything supernatural. Keep your mind off it.”

“I hope you realize how much the term ‘easier said than done’ applies in this situation.”

Rebekah smiled sadly and the siblings left. Caroline spent the next several hours stress-cleaning. She alphabetized every book in the library by titled and then reorganized them by author. She scrubbed every inch of the kitchen, and her room, and pretty much any room that wasn’t a bedroom. All three Originals returned after nightfall looking annoyed.

“How’d the search go?” Nadia asked.

“Not well for me, I’m afraid.” Rebekah admitted. “Davina’s never heard of the Travellers and the Ancestors are one step away from shunning her.”

“My search wasn’t fruitful either.” Elijah stated. “Amy agreed to look through some old family grimoires and records, but knows nothing more about the Travellers than I do. I reached out to a Lucy Bennett as well and inquired with her. She said she’d get back to me.”

“Sophie is going to attempt contacting the Ancestors. She promised nothing but said she’d try.” Klaus said. “I’m sorry Caroline.”

The blonde nodded, unhappy but understanding. “Hey, the odds of any of us finding exactly what we need to know today are like the odds of Katherine wearing flats. It wasn’t gonna happen.” Caroline said, trying to lighten the mood.

“What can I say? I love my heels.” Katherine responded.

Everyone dispersed shortly after, with Caroline dragging Klaus upstairs to talk to him. She pulled him into her room and stood there, not sure of what to say. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. About everything.”

“You said you wanted a day to be normal. I can understand that. May I ask you something sweetheart?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Why did you come to me? I know you said you’re looking for answers but I feel like that’s not the whole truth.”

Caroline sighed, and sat down on her bed. “You’re right. It’s not. Looking for answers was Katherine and Nadia’s justification. I agreed to come down here because, well…”

“Well, what?”

“You make me feel safe. When I’ve needed your help, you’ve been there. Most of the time, I can save myself, but the few times I couldn’t you’ve been there. No one else in my life has done that.”

Klaus was speechless. He knew Caroline had become disillusioned with her friends in the past year, but he didn’t know it ran this deep. If he, the man who nearly killed her several times over, was the person who made her feel safest, what did that say about everyone else? Knowing that speaking would make her either break down or get angry, he simply sat down next to her and put an arm around her. The pair sat in silence until he felt her start to drift off.

“I’ll leave you alone to get some rest.” He said standing up. She reached out and grabbed his hand.

“No, please stay. I’m worried about what will happen if I fall asleep alone.” She said.

The hybrid nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll let you change and come right back.” He walked downstairs and told Elijah where he could find him and informed the Petrovas that he’d watch over the bubbly blonde. Katherine nodded with a knowing smile.

When he was back upstairs, Caroline had changed into an old cheerleading shirt and gym shorts. He laid down next to her, and they quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 

Hours later, Klaus heard a noise that startled him awake and his eyes snapped open. He quickly analyzed the room; no one had entered and he could still feel Caroline next to him. As he turned to look at her, he realized she was thrashing around and whimpering.

“No, please…. Stop… Please…I’m sorry.”

Unsure of what to do, he nudged her to try and wake her. Remembering what he saw in a film once, he tried to calm her. Speaking softly, he said. “Caroline, love. You’re all right. Everything’s okay.“ it didn’t work at first, and he continued. After what felt like hours, her breathing slowed minutely and she opened her eyes, looking frightened. He backed up a little bit so she could get her bearings. “Are you alright love?”

She sat up, shaking, and sighed. “No, I’m not.”

“Stupid question, you’re right. Nightmare?”

“No. It was more of a memory.” She told him, putting her head in her hands.

“Do you wish to talk about it?” he asked.

“No.” she answered, still shaking. He reached out to touch her and she jumped away. “Please, please don’t touch me right now.” She gave him a pleading look and he moved away. “I’m gonna be fine, I just need a second.” Gripping the sheets, he heard her mumbling something over and over. After a few minutes, her body relaxed and she turned back to face him. “I’m sorry about that. Flashbacks are a bitch sometimes.”

Klaus looked away ashamed. She was having flashbacks because of him and he knew nothing he did would make it up to her. “I’m so sorry for what I’ve put you through Caroline.”

She smiled weakly. “It’s not your fault. “

“You are having flashbacks and night terrors of what I’ve done to you and your friends. I’d say that’s my fault.”

“The memory wasn’t of you, Klaus. I’ve had multiple traumatic experiences in the last few years. The things I have nightmares about have nothing to do with you.” She told him. “Most days I’m fine.”

“But some days you’re not.”

“Yeah, some days I’m not. Some days, if I’m stressed like I’ve been lately or if I haven’t slept, stuff peaks through. Sometimes, my memories just get triggered by nothing at all.” Caroline didn’t like talking about her trauma or the undiagnosed PTSD she probably had.

“Anything I can do?”

“Just, don’t take it personally when I react the way I did or want to be left alone.” He nodded and the pair eventually fell back asleep.

* * *

 

A few days later, the group still had close to no answers. Sophie had informed Klaus that the Ancestors knew some of the Travellers had returned from the Other Side, but could offer no other information. Lucy had reached out the day after Elijah called her and told them all the Spirits knew was that the Travellers were after something but would keep looking. Reaching the end of his rope and wanting some answer to give to Caroline, Klaus sought out the final option. Talking to the Travellers.

After a day of searching, he found the Traveller witch that knocked out Marcel, and about six others, squatting in a warehouse just outside the French Quarter. “I was wondering when you would show up.” She said looking the hybrid over. “Although I expected Miss Forbes to be with you.”

“What did you do to her?”

“I haven’t done anything to her. It is the will of the universe.”

“Well, the universe needs to find another person to torment. As do you.”

The Travellers all scoffed. “We want no harm to come to her. It would do us no good.”

“You tried to kill her. Multiple times. “

“Irina’s actions were her own. We never wanted to harm Caroline. Just to nudge her in the right direction.”

“Why her though?”

“Because it is written. Centuries ago, long before even you were born, her life, her destiny was foretold. Yours as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The prophecy isn’t just about her. It’s about both of you.”


	14. Flashback Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Caroline got her groove back (and Katherine got her life back)  
> Or Caroline drops some truth bombs and 5x11 type stuff happens

**MYSTIC FALLS-AUGUST**

Things had gotten weird in Mystic Falls. No supernatural threats had come to town since the werewolf incident right before graduation, but a few new residents did. With no Klaus around to threaten her, Katherine decided to settle down there. Partly, she wanted to unnerve Elena and the Salvatore brothers, but Caroline thought she also missed having a home. The doppelganger had spent centuries on the run, never able to stay in one place for more than a few months. With the Originals thoroughly distracted in New Orleans, now she could.

Katherine’s residency brought another unexpected guest, her daughter. The daughter she believed died five hundred years earlier. After a fight between mother and daughter and a brief discussion, they elected to stay. Both women finally got what they’d spent centuries seeking and weren’t willing to give it up quite yet.

Caroline and Katherine had grown closer in the past few months as well. It turned out that killing an undead werewolf together is quite the icebreaker. When the brunette wasn’t threatening or trying to kill her, she wasn’t half bad. Yes, she could be snarky and enjoyed stirring up drama, but she was never mean spirited towards Caroline or abusive. For someone who spent so long taking care of herself and only herself, Katherine wasn’t as self-centered as Caroline once believed and, surprisingly, she became a mentor to the blonde.

Nadia’s arrival caused a temporary strain in their relationship. Katherine needed time to reconnect with her long-lost child and Caroline didn’t want to barge in on that. She also didn’t want to lose Katherine as a friend or give Nadia a reason to hate her. Initially Nadia was rather cold to Caroline, until she realized the blonde wasn’t trying to steal her mother away, but instead keep her mentor-slash-second-mother in her life. The girls reached an unspoken agreement soon after.

Caroline was walking back to her house from Nadia’s when she saw a familiar face.

“Hello Caroline.”

“Klaus. What…what are you doing here?”

“Damon informed me that Katerina Petrova’s long-lost child had turned up recently. In Mystic Falls of all places.”

“And you came to what, slaughter her in front of Katherine? To delight in taking one more person from a woman you’ve spent 500 years terrorizing. Now, I’m not interested.” Caroline ran off and Klaus followed her.

“Why do you care so much about how I punish Katerina? She did kill you after all.”

“You think I don’t remember that? I just think you should let Katherine and Nadia live in peace. Especially since you two are at a stalemate.”

“What do you mean, love?”

“She can't kill you and you're unwilling to kill her. You want to take everything away from Katherine. You’ve already taken away her whole family, except the daughter you couldn’t find. You took away her ability to trust anyone or settle down anywhere for five centuries. And for what?”

“Katerina ruined my sacrifice five hundred years ago.”

“And what has she done to you since then? Killed Finn, oh wait, that was us. Aid your mother in her attempts to kill you, that was Elena. Killed Kol, again, Elena. Awaken Mikael, she was involved but we got the idea. She’s run from you, tried to stay as far from you as possible. You only want to kill Nadia because the alternative will lose you Elijah.” Caroline lectured. “And you have done a lot of things, but I never thought you’d be as bad as Damon.”

Klaus’ posture changed. “What do you mean?”

“Damon has an irrational hatred of Katherine or anything related to her. All because she wasn’t in that tomb. He did horrible things to a lot of people, including me, and blamed it on her. There are lines you won't cross that he has no issues crossing. And every time he has a chance to be slightly better, to make one person stop hating him, he throws it away. I guess I thought after everything, you’d at least try.” She ran off again.

Klaus followed her again. “Would you give me the same chance?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yes you do. Were I to abandon my revenge against Katerina, would you give me the same chance as Damon?”

“You can’t do this! You can’t just show up and threaten people and expect me to make complicated decisions about things that effect other people.” Caroline stormed off again, and, yet again, Klaus followed. “Don’t you have an evil doppelganger to punish for all her sins?”

“I do, but I won’t, for you.”

“So you came to Mystic Falls just to back off when I asked you to?”

“No, I came all the way to Mystic Falls to slaughter Katerina’s daughter in front of her, as you put it. But I’ll leave, minus the slaughtering and continued vendetta, in return for one thing.”

“And what is that?”

“I want your confession.”

“My confession? I didn’t do anything. Confession about what?”

“Me. As soon as we’re done here, I’m gonna walk away and I’m never coming back. You’ll never again have to look me in the eye and try to cover our connection with hostility for your friends’ benefit.” Klaus walked towards her slowly. “You’ll never have to think about the part of you that care for me, in spite of everything I’ve done. I will be gone, and you will be free. I just, I want you to be honest with me.”

“I’m in college. I’m building a life for myself. I have plans and a future and things that I want, and none of those things involve you. At least not right now.”

“I see.”

“No, you don’t. Yes, I have feelings for you; I can’t deny it any longer. So yes, I cover our connection with hostility because I’m 18 and I barely know who I am. Because I’m not ready to be someone’s last love quite yet. So if you promise to leave and never come back, then yes, I will be honest with you. I will be honest about what I want.”

“I will walk away, and I will never come back. I promise.”

“Good.” Caroline said, moving closer to kiss him.

The next thing she knew, Klaus had her up against a tree and they were tearing each other’s clothes off. As Klaus entered her, he began nibbling at her neck. The intensity built and as he got closer to climax, he was afraid he’d lose control. His wolf was begging to bite her, to claim her. “Love, I need you to bite me.”

“What?” she said breathlessly.

“It’s a wolf thing and I don’t want to hurt you.” He said, trying to keep a little control. Caroline nodded once and bit into his shoulder. When he felt her teeth sink into him, he lost control and bit into her neck. They continued drinking each other blood as they rode their orgasms out together.

* * *

 

An hour later, Klaus and Caroline had both recovered from their tryst, but weren’t ready to get up off the forest floor. “I guess I can cross ‘hot hybrid sex’ off my to-do list.” Caroline said.

“I guess you can.” Klaus replied. “Can I ask you something? Why do you care about Katerina so much? I was under the impression you didn’t care if she lived or died not three months ago.”

“She helped me out when the Veil was down. I owe her. Also, Nadia’s not that bad.”

“I see.” The hybrid said, standing up. As Caroline put her shirt back on, Klaus noticed something. “Have you always had that mark, love?” he asked pointing to something on her shoulder blade.

“Yeah.” The blonde said looking down at it. “But it’s darker than it used to be. Oh well.” she shrugged. “Come on, I know where to find Katherine.”

“Why do I need to find her?”

“She’s spent 500 years running from you. She’s not gonna believe you’re just letting that go because I say so. She needs to hear it from you.”

“Fine, sweetheart.” Klaus said, sighing. “Lead me to my mortal enemy.”

As Caroline knocked on Nadia’s door, she realized maybe she should have called ahead to warn Katherine. Then again, she wasn’t planning on running into Klaus or arguing for Katherine’s freedom. Before Caroline could freak out any longer, the door opened.

Katherine took one look at Klaus and turned to Caroline. “What the fuck, blondie? Why did you bring him here?”

“He’s not here to kill you.”

The brunette snorted, “yeah right. “

“It’s true, as much as I wish it otherwise.” The hybrid said, finally addressing Katherine. “I’m here to talk.”

“Fine.” She said, crossing her arms. “I’m not getting Alex to invite you in though.”

“I was hoping for a short conversation anyway. “ Klaus looked between Caroline and Katherine and got to the point. “it’s come to my attention that perhaps I hold grudges far too long. Time is relative, but five centuries is a long time regardless of how long one’s life is.”

Katherine's posture changed and she relaxed slightly. “What are you saying Klaus?”

“I’m abandoning my endless quest for revenge against you, Katerina. It’s begun to bore me anyway; there’s nothing else I can take from you and my time would be better spent on other things. You are, essentially, free.”

“You say that now. What happens when you change you mind?”

“Nothing. It’s a clean slate.“ Klaus said, then turned to look at Caroline. “Besides, I’d be a fool to throw a chance like this away.” Katherine cleared her throat and he turned back to face her. “there is one condition however.”

“Of course there is. Let’s hear it.”

“Do not involve yourself in any attempts to harm myself or a member of my family.”

“Fair enough. I trust you can see yourself back to New Orleans.”

“Have a nice life, Katerina. I’ll see you around, love.” Klaus said and then walked away.

As soon as Klaus was out of earshot, Katherine turned to caroline and demanded. “What did you do? What did you promise him? Whatever it is, I’m probably not worth it.”

“He came here to kill Nadia; I couldn’t do nothing. I convinced him that five hundred years chasing someone for wanting to live was a bit much. I also pointed out that its mostly the ‘Save Elena Squad’ that are the ones disrupting his plans, not you. Other than running away in 1492 and faking your death in 1864, you’ve avoided him as much as possible. “

“Ok, I feel like you’re leaving something out, but all right. What chance was he talking about?”

“It…it would take awhile to explain. Just a reference to something he asked me before Finn died.”

Katherine nodded but didn’t say anything. The two vampires stared at each other for a minute before Katherine said, “Thanks for getting me my life back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for how badly I write sex scenes(if what just happened even counts), but it was too important to leave out


	15. Chapter 15

After Klaus left to track down the traveller they’d seen, the remaining vampires sat in the compound, waiting. Everyone had felt useless for the past week, unfamiliar with the feeling of having absolutely no idea what to do. Rebekah was busying herself painting her nails. Katherine, Nadia and Caroline were talking quietly and Elijah was studying an old looking book. The relative slice was broken by the shrill ringing of Elijah’s phone.

“Hello? Ah, Miss Bennett. Any new leads?....Yes she has….Two as far as I’m aware… no memories or information …..I will inform her immediately. Thank you.” Elijah hung up the phone and turned to Caroline. “That was Lucy Bennett.”

“Did she find something?”

“She found some information regarding the vision you’ve been having.”

“What about them?”

“From what she read, the visions are to prepare you for what’s to come. They’re meant to show you what no one on this plane can tell you.”

“How does seeing Kol and Henrik prepare me for anything?”

“What if those visions were just to get you here?” Nadia asked and Caroline gave her a funny look. “Think about it. The first one told you that you needed to come to New Orleans. The second kept you from running away before Klaus got involved. I’m just saying, it fits.”

“I’m not saying I believe you, but it’s a good theory,” Caroline begrudgingly admitted.

“There was an additional thing Lucy said.” Elijah stated. “She said that once the real visions begin, they will come in regular intervals.”

“I haven’t had one in five days. That doesn’t exactly bode well for me.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine, Miss Forbes.” Elijah said looking at the blonde. Her eyes had glazed over and he shook her shoulder to make her focus; it didn’t work. “Miss Forbes? Katerina, I think she’s having another vision.”

 

_Caroline found herself standing in a hospital room and heard a woman scream. Turning towards the noise, she saw…. her mother? Her mother was in the hospital bed, and she was pregnant._

_“Come on Liz, just one more big push.” A doctor said from between her legs. “I can see the head!”_

_“Ok, this is too weird.” Caroline said to herself. “Dead people is one thing, watching your own birth is something else entirely. Can I go home now?” she asked to no one. Nothing happened so she tried to leave the room and found that she couldn’t. Out of options, she turned so she wasn’t watching her own birth._

_All of a sudden, Liz’s yelling stopped and a baby’s cry filled the room. “It’s a girl!” the doctor said._

_“Caroline. My little Caroline Elizabeth Forbes.” Liz said, sounding exhausted._

_Suddenly the scene changed. Caroline was still in the hospital except she wasn’t in Liz’s room, she was in the nursery. She watched as a couple walked up to the bassinette her infant-self lay in. there was a faint glow around them, like they weren’t entirely human or alive._

_“Sleep well, little one. You have an important future ahead of you.” The man spoke, and Caroline recognized the voice. He was the ghost she saw right before that witch showed up! Randolf or something._

_“Are you sure she is the one?” the woman asked, sounding world-weary._

_“You saw the birth mark. How else would she have the mark of our clan?”_

_“I just…. I don’t know if I can take any more false hope. “_

_“Everything will be fine, my love. We chose well.”_

_Caroline watched as the two spirits turned away, more confused than ever. As the pair exited the nursery, Randolf turned back to her. “Time to wake up, Caroline.”_

 

“Caroline?” Rebekah’s voice asked.

The blonde shot up. “What? What happened?”

“You had a vision Miss Forbes.”

“You gave me quite a scare, love.” Klaus said from the doorway. “What did you see?”

“I.i can’t even begin to explain right now. What did you find out?”

“Apparently, you and I are the subjects of a prophecy. The Universe set this in motion centuries ago and the Travellers don’t want to hurt you.”

“I remember a wolf-bite that says differently.”

“They claim that was one person’s actions. They just wanted to nudge you in the right direction.”

“The right direction? As in towards you. What is this prophecy anyway?”

“They were rather tight-lipped about that.” Klaus said grumpily. “What did you see?”

“My birth. I just watched myself be born.”

Everyone else was speechless. Eventually, Katherine spoke. “Why would the Universe want to show you that? Yeah, being born is significant, but unless the prophecy was tattooed on your scalp at birth, I don’t think you’d learn any ‘lost to the mists of time’ information.”

“That wasn’t all I saw. I saw…. I watched my mother name me and then the vision or memory or whatever jumped forward in time and I saw standing in the nursery of the hospital. I saw two people, one of them was that ghost Randolf I saw months ago, standing over Baby-Me. He basically said I was the chosen one. The woman he was with asked how he knew and he said something about how I have the mark of their clan. Then he said they’d chosen well and left.”

“So the only new thing we learned is that the Travellers have known for 18 years that you would fulfill the prophecy. “

“Not exactly. We know my birth mark has something to do with it.”

Klaus was reminded briefly of Hayley’s birthmark and wondered if this was a similar case. “Does anyone else in your family have that mark?”

Caroline shook her head.

“So we’re back at square one.”

“The Traveller witch I saw did mention one thing, however.” Klaus said unhappy to bring it up.

“What?”

“She said she’d be willing to talk to you about it. In person.”

“No, absolutely not! Last time I was in the same room as a Traveller, I almost died. Again. Not to mention something keeps knocking them out. how long do you think it will be before that makes them angry? We try to figure this out ourselves first.”

“Perhaps, it would be easier if Caroline wasn’t in your immediate vicinity.” Rebekah suggested cryptically. “It may drive the Travellers to reveal something useful if they believe she’s gone and disrupted their grand plans.”

“What if they attack her again to draw your brother out? If she’s three states away, that wont be useful to anyone.” Nadia retorted.

“I never said she had to leave the city. I’m just suggesting she leave the French Quarter, try to unnerve them.”

“And go where? Its not like your family has a whole bunch of friends.” Caroline said.

“The werewolves do owe you a favor, Niklaus.”

“Fine. The Bayou it is.”


	16. Chapter 16

“Remind me again why you’re hiding a vampire in the middle of wolf territory.” Katherine asked as the car drove towards the bayou.

“It’s the last place the Travellers will think to look. Werewolves and vampires being enemies and all. “Klaus answered for probably the fiftieth time.

“But what if she gets bitten?”

“Sophie spelled the house. No transformed werewolf will be able to enter.” He said, sighing. He wished Caroline wasn’t being so quiet. “It will be fine, and hopefully it’s only for a few days.”

Caroline sat in the backseat, staring out the window. Not only was she terrified of what might happen far from Klaus, but she also really didn’t want to deal with Hayley again. Something about this whole idea just seemed wrong. Then again, maybe that was just the universe talking.

Klaus drove up to a camper and the group watched as a young man walked up to the car. “Hello.” He said trying to sound friendly. He nodded towards Caroline. “Is she the vamp you were talking about?”

Caroline got out of the car and grabbed her bag. “Yes, and my name is Caroline, not vamp.”

“Aiden. Follow me, I’ll show you where you’re staying.”

The blonde followed and a minute later, they came to a small house. Caroline looked around and realized there were no other buildings in sight. Klaus and Katherine came walking up a moment later.

“I’m pretty sure I hear the music from Deliverance. “ Katherine deadpanned.

“Enough, Katerina. The wolves are doing us a favor.”

“Please, Caroline, come inside. It’s not much but it’s suitable for a few weeks.” The house had one bedroom, a bathroom and a small kitchen.

“Weeks?” Caroline asked, her voice cracking. “I’m going to be here for weeks?”

“It’s possible, love. I won’t act rashly where you are involved.”

“Anyway,” Aiden said, trying to say what he needed to and leave, “most of us stay away from this area during the full moon, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Thank you, Aiden.” Klaus said before turning to Caroline. The wolf saw his chance and left. “I know you don’t want to be here, but its only temporary. Just until the Travellers tell us something or leave.”

“Fine. “ Caroline said. “I guess you should head back to the French Quarter.” She turned away and walked inside.

“Don’t be angry, love.”

“I’m not, but I want to be alone.”

The hybrid nodded and walked off. Katherine lingered a moment before saying “I’ll call you later, ok?” The blonde nodded and the doppelganger left.

When she heard the car drive off, Caroline sunk to the floor and started sobbing. “How is this my life? Witches keep trying to kill me, and I’m stuck in a swamp with a pack of werewolves.”

“Several packs, actually.” A voice from the doorway said. Caroline jumped and turned to face the person. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Jimmy.”

“Caroline. What do you mean several packs?”

“Well, the Crescent Wolves have lived here for decades, the North East Atlantic Wolves came a few months ago and my pack came here a few weeks ago.”

“Why? I mean, you do you and everything, but what’s so special about the bayou?”

“I don’t know. Our Alpha said he just felt drawn here. I’m gonna let you go back to freaking out. If you need anything, my pack is a half-mile that way.” Jimmy pointed over his shoulder and then left.

**ABANDONED WAREHOUSE**

Sloan stood in the warehouse, wondering why her spell wasn’t working. “Get me a map of the whole city. She’s not in the French Quarter.”

“Why would she leave?” one of the younger Travellers asked.

“He probably thinks he’s protecting her. If they’re apart, the visions may stop.”

“Will they?” the Traveller asked.

“Of course not. They’ve completed the first ritual, nothing can stop it now.”

“Stop what, exactly?” Rebekah drawled from her position in the doorway. The Travellers all turned to look at Sloan, unsure of what to do. “Oh, don’t quiet down on my account.”

“What do you want? This doesn’t concern you.”

“It concerns my brother, so yes it does. Stop what?”

“Fate. Once the first ritual is done, the next one, and the fulfillment of the prophecy, is inevitable.” One of the older-looking Travellers said who looked rather deranged.

“I can’t tell you anything Klaus hasn’t already told you.” Sloan said shrugging. “As I told him, the only person I will speak to about this is Caroline.”

Rebekah stared the woman down before saying, “if anything happens to Caroline or Nik, I will kill you and everyone you’ve ever met.” The blonde original then walked off.

Sloan took the map she’d asked for and laid it out on the table. Repeating her locator spell, she smiled when she saw where Caroline had gone. “She’s in the bayou. Fantastic.”

“Why? She’s a vampire and she’s surrounded by werewolves. They could kill her.”

“They will not. Even now, the Barry Pack feels compelled to protect her. We need to make sure she stays in the bayou long enough for someone to see her mark.”

“Why?”

“Every wolf knows what that mark means. The bayou is where she will learn the truth about her family.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To refresh everyone's memory: Klaus and Caroline exchanged blood:  
>  1)when he bit her after Kol's death,   
> 2)when he cured her of the werewolf bite (barely, he licked her blood off her finger but that counts because reasons)   
> 3)during Klaroline sexy-times

**Abandoned warehouse**

Three days after Rebekah’s surprise visit to the Travellers, the blonde Original returned. With company this time. As soon as she said the words ‘ritual’ and ‘Caroline’ in the same sentence Klaus and both Petrova women were ready to burst down the door. It took a few days to talk the latter out of just killing everyone they found, so the visit/interrogation was put on hold.

Klaus walked into the warehouse, not the least bit surprised that his presence wasn’t startling. The Travellers seemed to be five steps of everyone, including him. It annoyed the hybrid, but as long as Caroline was safe, and far from the coven, he could handle it.

“I just had the most interesting conversation with my sister.” Klaus said walking up to Sloan. “She alleges to have heard you mention something about a ritual.”

“I don’t allege anything Nik. I heard it come from her very mouth.” Rebekah said walking up to join her brother.

“So, is my sister hearing things in her old age or did you forget to tell me something?”

“Please, don’t try to lie.” Nadia said, joining the two siblings. “We’ve become more and more fed up with your cryptic answers over the last few days.”

Sloan looked at each vampire in turn, measuring them up and debating how to answer the question. “Yes, it’s true. You and Caroline have completed the first ritual. It’s why the visions started. Once they stop, its time for the second one, which will fulfill the prophecy.”

“And what was this first ritual?” Klaus asked. “I think I’d remember participating in something like that.”

“Oh, you do. You just didn’t know it was a ritual.” Sloan said smirking.

“Enough!” Katherine yelled. “Just, tell us what this ritual was so we can leave and I don’t have to ruin my manicure by gouging your eyes out.”

“Sloan, just tell them. It’s not like he can undo it now, if he even wanted to.” Another Traveller said, getting tired of listening to this run around.

“Fine. You and Caroline finally completed what is known as the Uvedení záměrů or Stating of Intentions back in August.”

“What do you mean finally completed?”

“Well, back in August, you two took your relationship to the next level, while sharing blood with one another for the third time. Vampires sharing blood thrice in under six months and having relations while doing so is rare. In fact, many supernatural beings view it as a proposal of sorts. Since it’s a form of betrothal ritual, and you and Caroline participated of your own free will, you and Caroline are supernaturally engaged. This completed the initial part of the prophecy.”

“And what exactly is this prophecy about?”

“It is not time for you to know yet.”

“Wait, how did your little cult know they completed the ritual?” Katherine asked.

“We felt it.”

“Oh my god, that is disgusting.” Rebekah said gagging.

“So the visions are because Caroline and I are ‘betrothed’? Why didn’t the visions start right after we-“

“They should have, but you left the state. We waited for you to return or for her to find you, but that didn’t happen. So we gave Caroline a push in the right direction. The visions, and fulfillment of the prophecy, couldn’t start until one of you sought the other one out.”

“And let me guess? There’s no way to stop this prophecy.”

“Not unless one of you kills the other.”

* * *

 

**The Bayou**

Caroline had spent the last three days moping. Sure, the bayou was peaceful and being away from the Travellers allowed her a chance to breathe, but she was still stuck there. She hadn’t run into Hayley yet and the other werewolves seemed content to leave her alone, but she was bored.

Wanting to get out of the house, Caroline decided to go hunting for a bit. It was daylight and the full moon wasn’t for another week so she felt safe, all things considered. As she walked further from the cabin, she began to feel someone following her, but keeping their distance. Deciding to see what would happen, she ignored her shadow and acted as normal, although she moved at a human speed.

When Caroline’s follower scared away the bunny the blonde was trying to catch for the second time, she got fed up. Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with Jimmy, the werewolf she’d met three days earlier. “Do you want something?”

“No.”

“Then why are you following me?”

“I…I don’t know. I just feel this need to make sure nothing happens to you.”

“Well, can you do it less loudly? I’m trying to hunt here.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to her. “ a female voice called out.

“Hayley. I’d say its good to see you, but why lie?”

“Caroline Forbes. How’s the neck?”

“Fine. Get anyone killed recently for your own selfish gain?”

“All right ladies. Let’s calm down.” Jimmy said trying to diffuse the tension.

“Whatever. You want to be the pageant queen’s bitch, go right ahead.” Hayley said before walking off. Caroline glared into the back of her as she left.

“I hate her. I actually hate her. That’s rare for me.” The blonde said, mostly to herself. She then turned to Jimmy. “If I promise not to run headlong into any tree branches, can you give me enough space to hunt?”

The werewolf gave her an uncertain look before nodding. Caroline smiled and took off. She returned about five minutes later with no animals, but the smell of blood seemed to cling to her. Trying to be nice, he motioned to her collarbone.

“You gotta little-“

“Ugh! Seriously?” the blonde said looking down at her shirt. “You’d think after two years, I’d be less of a messy eater.”

She turned and sped back to her house. Going through her bag, she realized she’d need to do laundry soon. Klaus told her she was staying in the bayou for a few days, not weeks and she packed accordingly. As she found a shirt that both matched her outfit and was clean, she heard movement outside the house.

“Hello? Is someone there?” she called out. No one answered so she went back changing. After removing her soiled shirt, she heard the door open and she turned back towards the door, and held her shirt over her chest. In the doorway was an older looking man she hadn’t seen before.

“Hey, have you seen-“

“Do people not know how to knock out here or something?” Caroline yelled at the werewolf standing in the doorway. “Close the door and go away for a second!”

Caroline turned back around and the werewolf started to stammer out an apology.

“Sorry I was just looking for Ji- How long have you had that mark?” the man said, pointing to Caroline’s birthmark. By this point, Caroline had finished putting her shirt on.

“My whole life. That’s why it’s a birthmark.” She said sounding a little condescending.

“That’s no ordinary mark.” The wolf said with his eyes wide. “Has anyone else seen it?”

“Other than Klaus, no. “

“You need to come with me.”

“Why? I don’t even know you.”

“Hey, Mark. What are you doing here?” jimmy said walking up to the house.

“I was looking for you.” He said before looking back at Caroline. “She has the mark.”

“The mark? As in THE mark? The blonde vampire Klaus left here for us to babysit has it?”

Mark nodded and Jimmy looked at Caroline in wonder. “Ok, you two are really starting to freak me out. Why is my birthmark so important?”

Jimmy ignored her and asked Mark, “What should we do?”

“Go get your dad, one of the Basque elders and someone from the North East Atlantic Pack.” Mark said without taking his eyes off of Caroline. “They need to see it.”

“WHY? What is so damn special about my stupid birthmark?”

“The elders will be able to explain it better, but centers around a legend. One that dates back to the origins of our people.”

 

An hour later, Caroline, Jimmy, Mark and three older men were sitting inside the cabin. The elders of the three packs were unsure of what to do. All jimmy had told them was that Mark needed to speak with them. None of the three knew why the blonde vampire was present.

“Could you tell us why you called us here?” Daniel, the Alpha of the Basque Pack asked. “And why is she here?”

“She doesn’t want to be.” Caroline said.

“This is a little hard to explain, and it’s easier to show. Caroline, do you mind?”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll be right back.” Caroline sped into the bedroom and changed into a spaghetti strap top. When she walked back into the kitchen, she turned so that the assembled werewolves could see her back and she pulled the strap off her shoulder.

Four of the men gasped when she did so. “So it’s true.” Jimmy said astounded. “I…I wanted to believe you, but-“

“It seemed impossible.” Another wolf finished for him.

“Yet, we are looking at it. The mark of the Saskia Clan.”

Caroline turned around. “I’m sorry. The what of the who?”

“How much do you know about werewolves Caroline?” the third Alpha, jimmy’s father, asked.

“Enough. Your curse is activated if you take a life, werewolf venom is toxic to vampires, silver heals you, etc. I used to date one and my relationship with a certain hybrid is…well…complicated.”

“But what do you know of our culture? Our traditions?”

“Not much.” She admitted. “But Mark said my birthmark has something to do with some legend.”

“Yes, a very old one. There are several different werewolf bloodlines, but two are considered royalty, the LabonaIr and the Avila bloodlines. There used to be a third, the Saskia bloodline.”

“What happened? “

“Something so awful, so unnatural, that an entire coven of witches were cursed for it.”

“Let me guess, the Travellers? No wonder they’re so interested in me.”

All five men’s heads snapped towards Caroline. “They have sought you out.”

“Yeah. After the Veil went back up, some crazy witch, who I found out later was a Traveller, kept ranting to me about destiny and outrunning fate. Then she tried and failed to kill me twice. Oh and in the last month, they’ve tried to do something to me. Its why I left my hometown.”

“Why would they try to kill you? If what I think is happening is happening, they need you to end their curse.”

“Ok, but no one will tell me what is happening!” Caroline said exasperated.

“You were born into a werewolf family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM! Caroline's family is/were werewolves


	18. Chapter 18

_“You were born into a werewolf family.”_

“No….no I wasn’t. I wouldn’t have survived becoming a vampire if I had. Both my parents have taken a life. If they were werewolves that would have activated their curse. I can’t be a werewolf.“

“Yes, you were. That birthmark is only carried by the Alpha of the Saskia bloodline. It was widely believed for centuries that Theadora, the last known Alpha, and her family died out until Markos approached what would become the Barry Pack, our pack, with his prophecy.”

“Not the stupid prophecy again.”

“Yes, the stupid prophecy again. Markos had a gift; he could see both the past and the future. You see, Theadora had a son and she lost her mate because of the Travellers. She was so heartbroken, and angry and alone that she begged nature to spare her son from the werewolf curse. She didn’t want her son to find and lose his mate as she had. She wanted this so badly that nature obliged. The werewolf curse was locked away, hidden from her son, and her sons children and so on, all the way down to you.”

“So I’m a werewolf Alpha who isn’t even a real werewolf. Great. Why do the Travellers need me?”

“I don’t know for certain. If I had to guess, I’d say you being a Saskia means you could break their curse.”

The five wolves decided to give the blonde some time to think. Telling someone they were a werewolf never got any easier. Telling a vampire she’s both a werewolf and an Alpha was another matter entirely. They didn’t want to overload Caroline with too much information.

As they were leaving, Jimmy turned to Caroline and said, “Whatever you do, do not let Hayley or any of the Crescent wolves see that mark.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story, which you aren’t ready to hear. Every werewolf knows what that mark means, but not every werewolf pack wants to see the return of the Saskia line.”

“Wait, if every wolf knows what it means, how come Klaus or my ex didn’t say anything when they saw it?”

“Neither of them grew up in a wolf pack. Klaus spent centuries learning about werewolves, but he learned almost nothing about our culture.”

“Oh, ok.” Caroline said. She watched the men leave, wondering if she should call Klaus and tell her what she learned. She was curious about how he’d react, since she didn’t even know how she felt about it.

Caroline didn’t have much time to contemplate what she’d just learned. As soon as the werewolves left, Caroline felt herself lose conciseness.

* * *

 

_Caroline opened her eyes and she was in a rustic village. It was much older than the dream village she saw when she met Henrik and Kol. Her feet moved of their own accord towards the woods near the village. She saw two men, one blonde, one brunette and a brunette woman in the forest._ _The woman moved her arm and the blonde man fell to the ground._

_“What are you doing to me?” the man asked gasping in pain._

_“Exactly what I asked her to do. “ the other man said. “I want Theadora, I deserve to have her and you, well, you are in my way.”_

_“So what? Your pet witch is gonna kill me. Its too late for that.”_

_“Oh, no. I don’t need you dead, I just need you gone.”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_“It’s quite simple really. My friend here, she’s placed a little curse on you and the she-wolf. Making sure you never see her again. With you gone, she has to marry me. And once we’re bound, you and her, you’re gonna spend eternity apart.”_

* * *

 

_Sometime later, Caroline found herself standing in a field. She still felt like she was stuck in the past. She heard sniffling and went to investigate._ _Walking towards a river, Caroline saw a woman with dirty blonde hair who didn’t look much older than herself. The woman was on her knees sobbing in front of a brunette woman, it was the witch from earlier._

_“Why? Why would you do this?” the blonde woman said._

_“Because Theadora, Mathias asked me too. I love him far more than you ever will and if keeping you and Randulf apart for eternity will win me his love, I will do it.”_

_“Come now, my dear. The whelp may have wanted you, but he didn’t want you enough to stay.” The werewolf from earlier said arrogantly to the crying blonde. “With him gone, I’m the only Alpha left you can marry. So I win.”_

_“You bastard!” the blonde, Theadora, said. She stood up and slapped the man. “This was not a game! I loved him, and he loved me! He wasn’t just some crush or some lustful animal like you are! He’s my soulmate and you, you have taken him from me. I may never see him again, but I’d rather die than spend a single moment of my life with you!”_

_She moved to walk away when Mathias grabbed her arm. “What makes you think you have a choice?”_

_Theadora was saved from having to answer by the arrival of a group of women._

_“Is it true?” one of the women asked the brunette woman. “Tanya, is it true?”_

_“Yes. “_

_“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Tanya did not answer. “You didn’t just split up two random wolves, you violated the will of nature. You interfered in one of the few sacred aspects of life. Nature will not be forgiving. And you dragged all of us, your fellow witches, down with you as a result of your pathetic obsession with him.”_

* * *

 

_The setting changed yet again, and Caroline found herself standing inside a house, Theadora was talking to what looked like her family and she was crying._

_“I cannot stay here Mother. “_

_“So you will leave and die just to see this boy?”_

_“He’s not just some boy, Mother. He’s…. he’s my mate. We wanted to wait before telling anyone. I…. I wasn’t ready to go through a bonding ceremony yet, so we didn’t tell you.”_

_“That explains why the witches are so angry.” Her father said. “They didn’t lose their magic because Tanya chased Randulf off, they lost it because they betrayed nature.”_

_Theadora nodded and then spoke. “There is another reason why I cannot stay. I’m with child. I fear if I stay, his life will be at risk.”_

_“We cannot just leave. Many of our people are recovering from the full moon, half the women here are pregnant. Theadora, my daughter, I love you but I cannot put all of us at risk for you.”_

_“I know, papa. I am not asking you to come with me. I am asking you to let Aaron take your place as the next leader of our people.”_

_“But your brother is not a born Alpha, you are.”_

_“I know. One day, my children will find his children and our pack will be whole. Until then, I trust my brother to take care of our people.”_

* * *

 Caroline awoke on the floor of the cabin with her head throbbing. She looked around in confusion. The sun was beginning to set, so Caroline guessed she’d been out for around three hours. It was strange, how the length of a vision didn’t impact how long she was asleep. Her five-minute conversation with Kol was four hours in the real world, and what seemed like an hour of watching Theadora’s life was shorter.

With trepidation, Caroline pulled out her phone and dialed.

“I had another vision. And I found something out from one of the werewolves.”


	19. Chapter 19

**The Bayou**

As Caroline left her temporary home to cure her cabin fever, a man stood in the bayou just out of sight. For the last few days his job had been rather easy. Protecting someone is far simpler if they never leave their home. Sam knew he’d eventually need to report something back to Klaus, but so far ‘she went inside and stayed there’ was all that had happened. He quietly shadowed the blonde as she hunted, unwilling to anger Klaus.

Sam was broken from his trance when he heard, and smelled, another werewolf approaching the cabin. He moved a little closer to the building, preparing to intervene if necessary.

“Hey, have you seen-“

“Do people not know how to knock out here or something?” Caroline yelled at the werewolf standing in the doorway. “Close the door and go away for a second!”

Caroline turned back around and the werewolf started to stammer out an apology.

“Sorry I was just looking for Ji- How long have you had that mark?”

Sam was surprised by the older wolf’s reaction, and waited, still out of sight to see what he would do. Once Jimmy came, and left to find the Elders, Sam pulled out his phone.

“What is it Samuel?” Klaus asked.

“Your girl, one of the werewolves saw her birthmark. He freaked out and sent another wolf to get the Alphas from a few different packs. Not the Crescent wolves, though.”

“What do you mean, he freaked out?” the hybrid asked threateningly.

“His reaction was a mix of disbelief and awe. I don’t think he wants to hurt her.”

“I will be the judge of that.” Klaus said. “Keep an eye on what happens and call me when the wolves leave. And Samuel? It should go without saying, but if anything happens to Caroline, I will feed you your own entrails.”

 

An hour later, Sam watched the five werewolves leave and prepared to call Klaus. The original would want to know everything he’d overheard the second it was possible. Sam was about to dial the phone when he heard a thud from inside the house. Panicking, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

“How was the pack meeting? What did you learn?”

“I can tell you that later. Caroline just passed out and she’s not moving.”

“What. happened?”

“The wolves told her what her birthmark means and left. I was about to call you to pass on what I heard, when she collapsed. It’s like she’s in a trance or something.”

“Keep everyone out of that house.” Klaus said before hanging up.

* * *

  **Abandoned Warehouse**

Klaus stormed once again into the Travellers warehouse. Sloan barely had time to look up before she was being pinned against the wall by Klaus.

“Caroline is in another trance, what is happening?”

“They told her something, the wolves. It…it must have triggered another vision.” The Traveller leader gasped. “That’s a good thing.”

“How did you know she was with the wolves?”

“She was always meant to go there. The wolves could tell her what you could not.”

“What do the werewolves know that I do not?”

“Their story, her story.” Sloan said and Klaus relaxed his grip. “You were born a werewolf but you weren’t raised like one. There are stories and legends you haven’t heard as a result. What’s happening to Caroline, and you, is connected to the wolves.”

Klaus was about to threaten the witch again, when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“I had another vision. And I found something out from one of the werewolves.”

“There’s something I need to tell you too.”

* * *

 

**The Bayou**

Caroline was pacing the small living room of her temporary home when she heard a knock on the door. She rushed over and opened it, seeing Klaus and an unknown person. Klaus gave her a small smile before introducing his companion as Sam, one of his hybrids.

“We never talked about the whole ‘you still have hybrids’ thing.” Caroline stated.

“Well in fairness, you fell into a trance and I discovered the Travellers keep following you. The hybrid discussion can wait.” Klaus rebutted. “Now, if we could continue this discussion inside.”

“Oh, right.” Caroline said. “Come in I guess. You know, no one lives here. You don’t need an invitation.”

“I was being polite, love.” Klaus said walking past her and sitting down. “Now, where to begin?”

“I’d like to go first.”

“I think I should start.”

Klaus and Caroline both spoke at the same time. Caroline laughed and said, “Let’s try that again. You can go first.”

“I think in this case, you should go first love.” Klaus was worried about how Caroline would react to being told they were engaged.

“Ok, I’m from a werewolf family.”

“What? Caroline…that’s not possible. You couldn’t have transitioned if you were.”

“Yes, it is. My birthmark? It means I’m descended from one of the three royal wolf bloodlines. Apparently centuries ago, the ancestors of the Travellers did something super unnatural and my great-great-grandmother or something found a way to make the wolf gene dormant. It also has something to do with my vision, but we’ll talk later. What did you find out?”

“Promise not to yell until I’m finished?” Caroline nodded, a little worried about what Klaus had learned. “When I was last in Mystic Falls, you and I completed an ancient ritual. Essentially you and I are supernaturally betrothed. That’s what kick started your visions.”

“How? How did we complete this ancient ritual?”

“Samuel, could you give us a moment?” Klaus and Caroline both waited until they heard the hybrid get into his car and drive away. “In less than a year, we’ve blood shared on three separate occasions. The third and final time was in the middle of making love. According to the Travellers, that constitutes as a mating ritual of sorts.”

“So, we’re engaged? How did that cause these visions?”

“It’s not a cause-and-effect scenario. The betrothal was apparently step one of several. Step two is the vision, which didn’t happen immediately because I left.”

“What?”

“The visions couldn’t start until one of us sought the other out. It’s why the Travellers were so keen to push us together.”

“What’s step three? The visions have to be building towards something.”

“They won’t tell me, but they claim they will tell you.”

“Great.” Caroline said sarcastically. “So, like I said, I’m from a werewolf family.”

“Not only that, but you’re wolf royalty. How?”

“I might be wrong but this is what I got from the vision I just had. A long time ago, there were three royal werewolf bloodlines. Two had a male Alpha, and the last had a female one. She was supposed to marry one Alpha, which angered the other one who convinced a witch to do…something to his rival. Something unnatural that it led to the witch’s coven being cursed. Anyway, the wolf that was cursed or whatever was actually the female Alpha’s soulmate, and she was pregnant. The woman fled, and begged Nature to spare her unborn child the pain of becoming a wolf or losing his soulmate like she did. Nature obliged and the werewolf gene was locked away in her son, and her son’s children and so on until me. My birthmark makes me the Saskia clan Alpha.”

“That explains why the Traveller leader said you were always meant to come to the bayou.”


	20. Flashback Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Caroline and Kol became friends

**MYSTIC FALLS-ONE YEAR AGO**

Caroline sat in the Grill, drowning her sorrows. She’d gone to visit Tyler earlier that day and came across something she definitely didn’t want to see. Evidently, Tyler wanted his story of ‘I cheated on Caroline with Hayley’ to be convincing, so he slept with the she-wolf. Imagine Caroline’s surprise when she came to spend time with her boyfriend and found him quite literally in the middle of someone.

“I should totally throw wolfsbane in his face. That’s an appropriate response, right?” she said to herself.

“Who are you throwing wolfsbane at?” a male voice asked. She turned and saw Kol standing behind her.

“Tyler because he’s a lying, cheating dick. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Is that why you’re trying to drink yourself into a coma?”

Caroline got annoyed and put her drink down. “What do you want?”

“Right now or in a general sense?” Caroline glared at him so he continued. “I’m just bored and you look like you could use a distraction.”

“If this is some plot of your brother’s to make me hang out with him…”

“Nah. Nik doesn’t know I’m here. Do you really think he’d miss the opportunity to get you alone and flirt with you intentionally?”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. Nik might be my brother, but he’s trying a bit too hard.”

“Ok, so you’re here. I’m here. We both need something to do. What should it be? And don’t say sex.”

“I’m glad you asked.” Kol said mischievously. “Step one: we get out of this one stoplight town. Just for tonight.” He said when Caroline opened her mouth to argue. “According to Bekah, there’s a club out in Richmond that isn’t half bad. You’ll be able to get your mind off the wolfboy and I won’t be bored. Think about it.”

“Fine.” Caroline said giving in. “On the condition that you don’t try to make me feed off anyone or kill anyone for kicks.”

“Well that’s no fun. But I can kill someone if I have a reason.” He argued.

“I’d really prefer you didn’t. And I’m pretty sure you’ll ignore me and use ‘I was bored’ as a reason.”

“Come on now. At least believe in me before I disappoint you.”

Caroline rolled her eyes but followed Kol out of the Grill. 

* * *

 

Hours later, Kol dropped a rather tipsy and surprisingly happier Caroline off at her house. He didn’t want to admit it, but he liked spending time with Caroline. The bubbly blonde wasn’t all rules and color-coded schedules like Rebekah claimed and she was an interesting contrast to Nik. Once the awkwardness passed, he had fun, and guessed she did as well. It was nice, Kol thought, having a friend again. When Kol entered the Mikaelson mansion, he was met by Elijah and Klaus.

“Where have you been brother?” Elijah asked.

“I went out with a friend.”

“You don’t have any friends, Kol.” Klaus said.

“Don’t be mean, Nik. Yes, I do have friends. Well, a friend. Caroline.”

Klaus stood up agitated. It was just like Kol to swoop in and try to steal Caroline away from him. Kol didn’t even care about her; he just wanted to get under his brother’s skin.

“You went out with Caroline? Of every girl in this town, you choose to go after her. If anything happens to Caroline, I will dagger you and throw you into the ocean.”

“Relax, Nik. I’m not trying to steal her away from you. I was bored, she needed a distraction after what happened with the mutt and we both had fun. You also really need to find another threat besides daggering.”

“So its pure coincidence that your new friend is the girl I fancy?”

“Not everything is a conspiracy against you, Nik. We hung out, we had fun, that’s the end of it.”

* * *

 

**A few days later**

Caroline was leaving cheerleading practice for the day when she found Kol leaning against her car. He was looking appreciatively at the other members of the squad.

“Don’t tell Bekah I said this but maybe there are some reasons to go back to high school. Like these tasty little things.”

“Wow. You’re such a gentlemen.” Caroline responded sarcastically. “Can you not eat my whole team?”

“Who said anything about the whole team?”

“Why are you here?” Caroline asked, out of patience.

“Nik’s pining after you but try to 'respect your need for space', Elijah still has that stick up his ass. I’m bored and you’re fun.”

“What? You can’t go bother Rebekah?”

“She’s off at the grill mooning over the bartender.” Kol replied. “I heard his hand is doing better.”

“You mean the one you tried to break for no reason. Remind me again why I should entertain you?”

“Because the alternative is crying over Tyler or listening to Elena whine about being unable to pick a Salvatore. Besides, friends hang out, or so Bekah tells me.”

“We’re friends now?” Kol nodded enthusiastically. Caroline rolled her eyes and sighed in resignation. “Fine. But killing people doesn’t count as hanging out.”

“You know, I don’t just wander around looking for people to kill. I do have a life.”

“Yeah, one that consists of annoying your siblings to death and attacking people with baseball bats.”

“You forgot bugging you.” Kol shot back. “Now, what is this ‘paintball’ Jeremy kept telling me about?” Kol put air quotes around paintball.

Caroline turned and stared at him. “You want to go paintballing.”

“Yes. It sounds violent. What is it?”

“Fine. Just don’t blame me when Klaus bitches at you for getting paint all over the mansion.” Caroline said, unlocking her car. “Get in.”

* * *

 

Three hours later, Klaus was distracted from his reading by the sound of laughter coming from the foyer. Walking downstairs, he found Kol and Caroline standing in the hall. Caroline looked pretty normal, except her golden curls had a few spots of blue paint in them. Kol had patches of red, green, and black paint spread all over his body.

“I told you not to paintball your regular clothing.” Caroline said to Kol.

“But imagine Elijah’s response? I think this will make him have a heart attack.” Kol said gesturing to himself. “Especially once I get paint all over one of his fancy suits.”

“It’s your temporary funeral.” Caroline shrugged. She then noticed Klaus was watching them. “Hey.”

“Hello love. Kol. Care to explain your interesting appearance?”

“I convinced my new friend Caroline to go paintballing with me.”

“And I won, obviously.” Caroline said, her competitive streak rearing its head once more.

Klaus tried not to glare daggers at Kol as Caroline was speaking. He was jealous that his little brother got to spend so much time with Caroline while the blonde seemed content to avoid him. “I see. Blue does look good on you, sweetheart.”

“For now. Wait til next time.” Kol said, fake threatening. “I’ll even bring Nik, use his accent and dimples to distract you.”

Klaus stood in amazement for a moment. His accent and dimples were distracting for Caroline? That was good to know, it meant he was having an effect on her. Caroline meanwhile gave Kol a very significant ‘how dare you bring that up’ look, and he smiled cheekily. For a few seconds no one said anything and Caroline began to feel awkward.

“Well, I’m gonna leave before I get roped into whatever ‘you’re old enough to know better’ lecture Elijah is going to give you. He seems like the lecturing type.” Caroline said, pointing outside.

“Oh, he is love. Let me walk you out.” Klaus said.

“I’m pretty sure I can manage.” Caroline didn’t want to hear another grand declaration from Klaus. Not so soon after breaking up with Tyler.

“I insist.” Klaus had kept his distance from Caroline for the last few days. He knew she’d caught Tyler with Hayley but decided to give her some time to process everything. Now that Caroline seemed less hurt, he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to speak with her one-on-one.

The blonde nodded and walked outside, with the hybrid following close behind. “I’m sorry Kol dragged you along to entertain him.”

“It’s fine. I actually had fun.”

“With Kol?” Klaus gave her a questioning look.

“Don’t give me that look. Your brother isn’t that bad. He’s my friend.”

“You know, if you need something to keep your mind off of the mutt, I’m always available.” Klaus said.

“Seriously? I don’t hang out with Kol because he’s available. I do it because we have fun, and unlike other people, there isn’t an ulterior motive.”

“Are you saying I have ulterior motives for wanting to spend time with you?”

“Are you saying that, given the chance, you wouldn’t use an opportunity to hang out with me to convince me to date and/or sleep with you?” Klaus didn’t respond, which Caroline took as admittance. “That’s what I thought. I just got out of a relationship; I don’t want to be with anyone right now. Kol is fun, and there’s a lot less boy slash relationship drama to talk about with him.”

Klaus nodded, chastised a little and watched as Caroline got into her car. Right before she drove away, he knocked on the window and she rolled it down. “You’re right. I want to spend time with you because I want you to give me a chance. But Caroline, unlike other people, I’m a patient man. I can wait.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is kinda blah, but I needed a break while i figured out the next part of the story


	21. Chapter 21

Caroline and Klaus stood in Caroline’s temporary abode, reeling from what each had just learned and unsure of how to proceed. Klaus looked at Caroline, concerned all of this might be too much for her. Caroline was strong, yes, but she was only eighteen years old and in the span of a few days, her whole life had changed.

“So, what do we do now?” Caroline asked. “I mean, they finally told you something and I finally had a vision that was useful.”

Klaus thought for a moment before speaking. “I don’t know about you love. But I’d love to hear this prophecy for once and get some real answers. I understand if you want to…wait a few days before seeing the Travellers.”

“I’m not really the run-and-hide type. You were the one who insisted I hide from the big, bad witches out here.” Caroline then walked into her bedroom and began packing. A few minutes later, Caroline came out with her suitcase fully packed and looked at Klaus expectantly.

“Ready to go sweetheart?”

“I’ve been ready since I got here. Don’t get me wrong, this place is nice and all, but it’s a little boring.”

Klaus smiled and held the door open for Caroline. She put her bag in the car and was about to get into the passenger seat when she heard someone behind her. She turned and saw Jimmy standing there, looking both angry and sad.

“Where are you going?” the young werewolf asked.

“Back to the French Quarter.”

“But…it’s not safe there! We’re not allowed in the French Quarter. What if something happens?”

“She’s not going alone, mate.” Klaus said from behind Jimmy. He looked the young man over and realized Jimmy was legitimately afraid for Caroline’s safety. “What don’t I know?”

“Did she tell you about her mark and what it means? Did she tell you what happened to her ancestor?” Klaus nodded and the werewolf continued. “After Theadora left to protect her son, the pack didn’t have an Alpha. It split into a few different packs, including mine and some of the other one’s that’s staying in the bayou. It’s…in our nature to try to protect our Alphas. In this case, Caroline.”

“Why are you so sure something bad is going to happen to me?” Caroline said crossing her arms.

“Not everyone wants that prophecy fulfilled.”

“Do you know the prophecy?” Klaus asked darkly. He wanted answers, preferably ones not coming from the Travellers.

“I know the gist of it. Every werewolf does. The Alpha of the Saskia bloodline is destined to right what was put wrong centuries ago and our people would be united.”

“How?” Caroline asked.

“I don’t know. Markos had the vision years before any of us were born, including him.” Jimmy said pointing to Klaus. “Plus, prophecies are vague on purpose.”

“Who doesn’t want the prophecy fulfilled?” Klaus asked trying to figure out how many people he needed to protect Caroline from.

“The Crescent wolves, and a few other packs. Distant descendants of the Travellers. Hayley Marshall.”

“Wait, Hayley? Why does the little wolf care?”

“Because Hayley is a direct descendant of the werewolf Alpha who caused all of this to happen. That family, and their pack, fears that if that violation of nature is undone, they will be punished in their ancestors place. Do you see why she can’t leave?”

“Look, mate. I’m not just going to take her back to the Quarter and leave her to fend for herself. Whoever may or may not want Caroline to fulfill her destiny is gonna have to go through me. I’m much worse than anything else out there.”

“Besides, someone owes me some answers.” Caroline said, getting into the car and ending the conversation.

* * *

 

The car ride back into the French Quarter was quiet for the first half. Klaus began to get unnerved when talkative, bubbly Caroline was completely silent. He glanced over at her and noticed she looked worried. “What’s on your mind, love?”

“What isn’t? I mean, I’m an Alpha apparently, which shouldn’t be possible. And there’s a propechy everyone keeps talking about and on top of that, we’re basically married by Nature. I mean, we just got to the point where we weren’t convicned the other one wanted to kill us. And now we’re just supposed to run off into the sunset together?”

Klaus looked away for a moment before speaking again. “Are you upset that we’re bonded?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. I accepted what I felt for you and then I let you go. I was fine with figuring my life out and then finding you again when I was ready. And now, all of this is happening so fast and I don’t know how I feel about it because everytime I sit down to process it, some other bomb gets dropped on me.” the blonde spat out frantically. Her heart started to race and Klaus could hear she was having trouble breathing.

“Calm down love. I think you might be having a panic attack.” As soon as he said it, Klaus realized that might not be the best or most useful thing to say.

She didn’t respond and Klaus pulled the car over. As soon as he put it in park, Klaus was on the other side of the car trying to get through to Caroline. He slowly put a hand on her cheek and turned her face to look at him. In a low, comforting voice, he spoke.

“Caroline, love. Look at me. Just focus on me ok? Everything is going to be fine. I’m right here. Just breathe sweetheart. Nothing’s going to happen. You’re okay, nothing’s going to hurt you”

Klaus sighed in relief as Caroline’s breathing got slower and deeper and her eyes seemed less panicked.

“I’m sorry about that.” Caroline said sheepishly.

“You had a panic attack, sweetheart. That’s not something you need to apologize for.“

“I didn’t know vampire’s could even get those. It’s just…all this stuff keeps happening to me and its overwhelming.”

"We'll figure it out, Caroline. I promise."


	22. Chapter 22

**Abandoned Warehouse**

After Klaus had calmed Caroline down, they continued to the abandoned warehouse where Klaus had last visited the Travellers. They arrived and found the building empty, with no sign anyone had been there in months.

“Well this is just great.” Caroline said sarcastically. “The one time I actually want to see these weirdos and they’re not here.”

“There’s no need for name-calling.” A voice said from behind them. They turned and saw a dark-haired man that looked to be in his mid-30s. “I believe my followers wished to give us some privacy.”

“Your followers?” Klaus said suspicious of the man.

“Forgive me. My name is Markos. “

“The Traveller who created the prophecy.”

“I did not create it.” Markos said walking closer. “Theadora did. I just…told others what I saw her say.”

“And what is the prophecy?” Caroline asked. “Everyone keeps mentioning it, but no one will tell us what it says.”

“Because it was not time for you to know yet. This thing, what’s happening to you, it was decided centuries before any of us were here. You two could not know until Nature itself decided you two were the ones we were waiting for.”

“Just tell us the prophecy mate.” Klaus said starting to get agitated.

“It is rather straightforward. You two will get the happy ending your ancestors didn’t-“

“What are you talking about?” Caroline interrupted.

“Theadora promised that one day one of her descendants would-“

“Find a descendant of her mate’s and the pack would be whole.” Caroline finished. “Does that mean-“

“Yes, Klaus is descended from the Avila line. Although he is not a direct descendant of Randulf’s. The only child he had was with Theadora.”

“Ok, so our ancestors were soulmates.”

“Yes, but they were forced apart, something nature disagreed with. The prophecy says that Theadora’s descendant will meet her soulmate, an Alpha born into the Avila line, and when they complete the mating rituals, Tanya’s actions will be undone.”

“Wait, Klaus is an Alpha?”

“I told you, love.”

“Yes. Both of you have to be Alpha’s in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Additionally, Alphas from the royal lines can only have other Alphas as soulmates. “

“What did Tanya do?” Klaus asked, wanting to know exactly what was being undone.

“She cursed Randulf. If he and Theadora ever laid eyes on each other again, both would have died horribly. So, like any man truly in love, he left to keep her safe and took his entire pack with him. As heartbreaking and painful as it felt to leave his pregnant mate, he wanted her to live. Have you ever loved someone so much you’re willing to let them go if they need you to?”

Klaus looked at Caroline before nodding. “And that’s why you lot were cursed?”

“Yes. Tanya channeled members of her coven to curse Randulf, which made the coven just as guilty in the eyes of nature.”

“So if Caroline and I fulfill this prophecy, what do you get out of it?”

“We get to move on, no longer stuck on the Other Side and our descendants will be free.”

“So let me get this straight. Your people terrorized me for months so I’d undo a curse that benefits only you. Why should I run to the opposite end of the earth?” Caroline asked angry.

“It doesn’t just benefit us. Theadora and her love can be at peace. You’ll become who you were always supposed to be. You’ll have your soulmate.”

“If Hayley or a Crescent wolf doesn’t kill me first. Would you like to explain why she doesn’t want what you want?”

“You’d need to ask a werewolf to get the real answer. Werewolf politics most likely. When I told the Barry Pack what was to happen years ago, they warned me to keep the vision to myself. “ Markos admitted. “I don’t suppose you have any further questions.”

“Just one.” Caroline said. “What happened in Mystic Falls last month? Twice the Travellers tried to attack me and both times they were knocked out before they could do anything.”

“Ah. So you noticed that. It was a failsafe of Karina’s. She was the witch who ousted and killed Tanya for her betrayal of nature. She knew the curse had a loophole to undo it and, with her dying breath, cast a spell to protect the person meant to undo it. In this case, it protects Caroline. Once you two finished the first step, if more than three Travellers get within ten feet of Caroline, magic from beyond the grave knocks them out. She was worried our descendants might be a little too eager to force things along. ”

“She kinda had a point, given the fact one of them tried twice to kill me.”

* * *

 

**Marcel’s apartment**

Marcel sat stewing in his apartment. His plan to get rid of Klaus had failed, again, and the one weapon he could use against the Original was gone. He had hoped to rid New Orleans of Klaus without unnecessary bloodshed but if the Original was going to make this difficult, the younger vampire would oblige.

He was surprised when he awoke in the warehouse with none of his people dead, merely passed out. That didn’t strike him as very Klaus-like. Klaus not gloating over marcel when he awoke was out of character as well. Either something happened to the Original right after marcel was knocked out, or something more important had come up. Marcel needed to find out which situation it was right away. Sure, he’d seen the Original over the last few days but he hadn’t seen any of the others and Klaus’ mind seemed to be elsewhere.

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

Stefan was pacing in front of the fireplace of the boardinghouse waiting for the others to arrive. Over the last two weeks, something just felt off to him and only Matt seemed to share his concerns. His musings were interrupted when the front door opened and Elena came in, followed by the rest of the group.

“What’s so important little brother?” Damon asked a little annoyed.

“Caroline.”

“She’s back?” Bonnie asked a little excited.

“No, which is the problem.” Stefan answered.

“So Blondie’s still off finding herself. So what?”

“Yeah, she’s off somewhere. But have any of you heard from her since she left? Other than that letter she sent Matt?” Everyone shook their heads. “That doesn’t seem weird to you? Because it seems very unlike Caroline to me.”

“What are you saying Stefan?” Elena asked.

“I’m worried something happened to Caroline. We need to find her.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we know the prophecy. Up next, some Kalijah and Caroline/Katherine/Nadia goodness


	23. Chapter 23

While Klaus and Caroline were off finding answers, the others were waiting anxiously in the French Quarter. Rebekah, to make Nik happy and stay away from Katherine, had taken to shadowing Sophie everywhere she went until the witch came up with something useful. This left Elijah, Katherine and Nadia sitting in the compound waiting for news. After two days, they began to get restless.

“Uh. This is worse than being on the run from Klaus. At least then I could do something. The inertia is literally killing me. I think I actually might die of boredom.” Katherine said pacing the compound.

“Don’t you think you’re being a tad overdramatic Katerina?”

“I’m not being dramatic enough. The Travellers have some weird obsession with Klaus and Caroline being together, Blondie keeps falling into trances and I’m pretty sure someone’s going to try to kill one of them at some point. And I’m the only one who seems to care.”

“You’re not the only one who cares, my dear. Nadia, Rebekah and myself are just as worried about this as you are. I’m just better at hiding my concern. My brother and Miss Forbes may be in danger. We still know nothing about the Travellers or the prophecy they are so focused on. “

“That’s exactly my point. You’re putting on your aloof-persona again and its not helpful and it never has been. You think acting like you don’t care is a good thing, but right now, it just makes you look like an asshole.”

“I’m not acting like I don’t care. I’m trying to be sensible.”

“Sensible? You can’t afford to be sensible right now! Klaus might be your brother, but whatever is happening to him is also happening to my-“ Katherine trailed off.

“Your what?” Elijah said, unused to seeing Katherine speechless.

“My daughter ok? I know she’s not Nadia, but Blondie, in all the ways that count, is my child too. I’ve already almost lost one child; I can’t lose her to a bunch of psychotic witches. I won’t.” Katherine said frustrated. “And all I need right now is for you to show you’re half as concerned as I am, but instead I get emotionally detached Elijah, like always.”

“You think I don’t care? Katerina, Niklaus is my brother, the last one I have left, if I have to kill my way through the city to keep him and Caroline safe, I will. The only difference is I don’t know how effective that solution would be. Don’t say that I don’t care.”

“I’m sorry Elijah, I just…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I promised her I’d help her figure this out, and I feel so useless. I haven’t felt like this since I was human.”

Elijah looked at Katherine for a moment before suggesting something. “Perhaps a change of scenery is in order. Sitting here only gives us time to panic over the things we don’t know. Perhaps some time away from the compound will do us some good.”

“What do you suggest then?” Katherine said humoring him.

“Have a drink with me? Give me a chance to make up for all the times I’ve disappointed you in the past.”

“Fine, but you don’t get to critique my bourbon choices.” Katherine said walking out of the compound, knowing Elijah would follow.

The pair decided to forego Rousseau’s, unwilling to risk running into Marcel, and instead headed to a fancier bar in Treme to talk. The place was pretty empty even for early afternoon and everyone inside appeared to be human, so neither vampire was worried about eavesdropping.

“May I ask you something Katerina?” Elijah said, ready to hear the brunette refuse.

“I suppose, but I’m not promising I’ll answer the question.”

“When Niklaus ‘let you go’ as you put it, why didn’t you tell me?”

“A few reasons. I thought he would have told you, whether it was as an olive branch or just to taunt you. Anyway, I thought you knew and decided you didn’t want me anymore.”

“Katerina, I’ve loved you for five hundred years. How on earth could you think that?”

“Because you never chose me. You always chose Klaus or Rebekah or lately to just simply assume everything I do has some ulterior motive. Do you blame me for trying to save myself the pain?”

“I suppose I don’t. Although I wish I could say you didn’t have a reason to doubt me.”

“Hey, a lot can happen in five hundred years. We’ve both stabbed each other in the back quite a few times. Besides, Klaus abandoning his revenge against me was pretty unbelievable. I still don’t know how it happened.”

“You don’t?”

“Well, I know some of it, or at least what Caroline told me after he announced it. “

“What did she tell you?”

“Damon told Klaus Nadia had come to Mystic Falls. Your brother came to town so he could kill her in front of me, but he ran into Caroline first. She pointed out to him that, other than running away in 1492, I haven’t done anything to Klaus or your family to justify killing me. He gave me a clean slate as long as I didn’t get involved in any other attempts to kill him or you. Something else definitely happened between them, but I don’t know what it was.”

“Well then, I suppose I should get Caroline a thank-you gift of some kind.” Elijah said with a slight smile. “I never thought I’d see the day my brother acquiesced to the demands of a baby vampire.”

“Me neither, but I suppose life works in mysterious ways. Anyway, back to us.”

“What about us?”

“Well, are you going to take me out to dinner or what?”

Elijah was about to respond when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out before standing up. “That was Niklaus. He’s brought Caroline back from the bayou and there have been some…. developments. “

Katherine stood up as well. “What kind of developments? Is she ok? Do they know what happened?”

“I don’t know yet, but I think we should return to the compound.” 

* * *

 

**Mystic Falls**

“I talked to the Sheriff, Liz doesn’t know where Caroline went.” Damon said walking into the boardinghouse. He didn’t care what happened to Caroline, but Elena did so he was forced to help find her. “And we still haven’t found Katherine.”

“We might need to go with Plan B.” Elena said from the couch. “If Klaus doesn’t know where she is, he might help us find her.”

“No. He’ll kill us, blame someone else and convince Caroline he had nothing to do with it.” Damon answered. “And she’ll believe him because she’s an idiot.”

Elena was about to defend Caroline when Tyler walked in. “Guys, I heard from an old acquaintance. Care’s in New Orleans.”

“What?!” Bonnie yelled.

“Why is she there?” Elena asked. “It’s Klaus, it has to be. He must have compelled her to be with him. Or Katherine brought her to him for her freedom.”

“Do you really think they’d stoop to that level?” Matt asked.

“He’s Klaus, so yes.” Damon retorted. “And Katherine did kill her, so she doesn’t exactly have Blondie’s best interests at heart.”

“We have to help her. She’s our friend. We can’t just let him take advantage of her like that.” Elena said. Matt sighed and left the room.

When matt got home, he called Caroline and left a brief message. He told her he missed her and warned her the others knew she was in New Orleans and were heading there soon. Regardless of Caroline’s choices, she was an adult and deserved the heads up.

Stefan meanwhile was reaching a similar conclusion to Matt. He called Klaus and simply asked the hybrid to call him back, saying it was urgent. If Caroline was in New Orleans, Klaus probably already knew and Stefan was sure she was okay. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was getting tired of the Mystic Falls drama. He also knew Klaus well enough to know he’d never compel a woman to be with him.

* * *

 

**New Orleans**

“Soulmates?”

“Yes, Bekah.”

“You two are soulmates? That’s what you’re saying?”

“Yes. For the third time, Caroline and I are soulmates.”

“I just…I can’t…what?”

“Forget about the soulmate part right now. Caroline is a werewolf?” Nadia said interrupting Rebekah’s stuttering. “How is that possible? Even if she was untriggered when she was turned, the carnival worker’s death would have activated the gene.”

“What carnival worker?” Klaus asked concerned.

“He was the first person I killed. It was the night after I died. Matt and I went to the carnival. I ran away from him because all I could think about was eating him. I came across this worker, I startled him and he cut himself. I remember biting him, but I don’t remember anything else until I heard his heart stop. Then Damon and Stefan found me and Damon tried to stake me.”  

“Why would Damon try to kill you?” Rebekah asked.

“Because he turned Matt’s sister and she couldn’t control her bloodlust. He was convinced I wouldn’t make it as a vampire. I also…. started remembering things.”

“What kinds of things?” Klaus asked, half-concerned and half-angry.

“Back on topic,” Katherine said noticing how uncomfortable Caroline looked, “if Care bear here was a werewolf, the carnie’s death should have activated the curse.”

“It wouldn’t have. My great-great-and-so-on grandmother convinced the forces of nature to lock that part of our heritage away.”

“But because of what happened between you and Nik, its being awoken?” Caroline and Klaus both nodded. Rebekah then got an idea. “Caroline, show me your fangs.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it. There’s a theory I want to test.”

“Fine.” Caroline said rolling her eyes. She felt her fangs drop and then the five others gasped. “What?”

“You look-“

“Not quite like a hybrid, but not exactly like a vampire. It’s like you’re in-between.”

“What do you mean?” Caroline asked scared.

“Your eyes look the same, love, but you have two sets of fangs like I do.”

“So I’m slowly becoming a hybrid?” everyone else nodded and Caroline began to panic. “This…. this is too weird. I need-“

“What do you need love?” Klaus asked wanting to help her.

Katherine and Nadia looked at one another before Katherine grabbed Caroline and ran from the room. Nadia faced the angry hybrid and said. “She’s about to completely shut down. Trust me, it isn’t pretty. We’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Where are you taking her?” Klaus yelled after the younger Petrova who didn’t respond. Klaus looked at his siblings before tearing off after the trio.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:Brief, non-graphic mention of sexual assault and suicide.

**Baton Rouge**

Klaus finally caught up to Katherine two hours after the Petrovas fled the city with Caroline. He tracked their car to a dive bar a mile away from Louisiana State University’s campus. As he approached the entrance, he smelled blood and began to walk faster. Opening the door, he saw Caroline covered in blood crying. Katherine and Nadia were trying to calm her down. The bodies of four young men surrounded the usually bright and happy blonde.

“I’m a murderer. I’m a monster. Bonnie was right, I…I killed them.” Caroline said crying.

“Blondie, you’re not a monster. Yes, you killed them, but they deserve it.” Katherine said rubbing her back.

“Yeah, you heard what those boys said. They were the real monsters.” Nadia added.

“What is going on here?” Klaus said trying to gauge what happened.

“Blondie needed to let off some steam. I’ll explain later. You weren’t supposed to follow us.” Katherine said tersely.

“You can’t run off with someone I care about and expect me not to follow.” Klaus then slowly approached Caroline. “Caroline, are you all right?”

“No. I’m a murderer. How am I supposed to be all right? They had families and futures and people who cared about them.”

“Care, they don't deserve your mourning them. You probably made the world a better place by killing them.” Nadia told her.

The blonde still looked unsure, so Klaus stepped in to try and comfort the blonde. He pulled her to her feet and led her to the bathroom. “Come on, love. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

* * *

 

**Earlier**

As soon as Katherine dragged Caroline out of the Abattoir, Nadia came rushing out and the trio drove away. The blonde seemed to have fallen into a fugue state after leaving the building. It was only Nadia’s hand on Caroline’s arm that kept her in the car and not outside tearing into people.

Shortly after Katherine settled in Mystic Falls, the brunette discovered a surprising quirk about Caroline. When the young vampire felt helpless, completely and utterly helpless and in over her head, she had a tendency to…overindulge her thirst. Katherine had only seen Caroline in such a state once before, when none of the Mystic Falls gang were willing to talk to her and Tyler decided Caroline wasn’t worth abandoning his revenge for. If any situation called for a rampage, this was it.

Katherine had told Nadia of Caroline’s behavior post-shutdown a few days earlier when Caroline had left for the bayou. The doppelganger was concerned the straw that broke Caroline’s back would come while she was in the bayou and there wasn’t anyone around to stop her.

“You okay back there, Blondie?” Katherine asked a little concerned.

“Let me out of here.” Caroline shot back. “I need…I need to get out of here.”

Katherine thought for a second before making a snap decision. Caroline needed to have her blood-spattered breakdown and not kill anyone innocent. “I know exactly what you need. “

An hour later, Nadia was keeping watch over Caroline at a dive bar. Katherine, meanwhile, was looking for prey. Walking through LSU’s campus, she found herself standing outside a fraternity house. One man catcalled her from the street, so Katherine rolled her eyes and thought ‘bingo’. She went up to the house and knocked on the door. A man with sandy blonde hair answered and gave her a once-over, staring intently at her chest.

“Can I…help you with anything?” he asked seductively, or so he thought.

“You’re going to invite me in. Then, you’re going to get all your brothers down here.“ He did as he was told and the boys all stood in the entrance of the house, wondering what the hot brunette wanted. “Hello boys. I have a…question I need all of you to answer honestly. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

Ten minutes later, four of the fraternity members walked silently to Katherine’s car and got inside. The doppelganger compelled the other members to forget the names of those she took with her. When they arrived at the bar, Caroline’s normal personality was almost completely gone, and her bloodthirsty side was making an appearance. Katherine dragged the four boys into the bar and announced. “Blondie, I brought you a present.”

“Katherine, you can’t just let her kill four people.” Nadia said, wanting to help the blonde but unwilling to make her do something she’d regret.

“They’re not people, Nadia. They’re assholes.” Katherine said before turning to the four. “Tell them what you told me.”

“Dave, Steve and I went to our frat’s first party of the year. We got this one girl so drunk she couldn’t move. We each had sex with her and taped it and showed our brothers. Two days later, the dumb bitch killed herself.” One of the four said gesturing to two of his companions. None of them seemed very sorry.

“One pledge was dating my ex so I gave him PCP without telling him and convinced him he could fly.” The fourth guy said.

“See? They’re not exactly innocent, are they? Go ahead Blondie.” Katherine said.

Caroline didn’t need any encouragement. Within five minutes, three of the four men were on the floor dead. The fourth dropped to the ground and Caroline came out of her fog and broke down. The same thing happened when Katherine first discovered Caroline’s issue. Nadia and Katherine spent around half an hour talking Caroline out of feeling guilty when Klaus walked in.

* * *

 

**Present Time**

After Caroline’s small killing spree, Katherine and Nadia brought the blonde back to New Orleans for some ‘girl time’. Both older vampires knew shopping or getting their nails done would be the perfect way to get Caroline to open up. Katherine figured out after the Veil incident that Caroline would process something and then at a later time, she’d talk about what she was feeling. Klaus took care of the bodies as soon as Caroline was cleaned up and seemed to be feeling better.

As the girls were sifting through the clothing racks in a boutique on the edge of the French Quarter, Nadia finally broached the topic. “How are you feeling about everything?”

“I think what happened an hour ago explains itself.” Carline deadpanned.

“That wasn’t what I meant and you know it. That was instinct, not emotion. How are you feeling?”

“Confused. Worried. Terrified. I mean, what if I’m bad at…. you know…. leading them?”

“You’re kidding right?” Katherine interjected. “You pretty much kept Mystic Falls running for the last few years. A bunch of werewolves should be a cakewalk.”

“Yeah, but that’s different. I only know like three of the people I’m supposed to lead. Plus, there’s the whole soulmate thing.”

“Why are you worried about that? You like him and he’s head over heels for you. Seems pretty straightforward. I mean, who else can say the universe picked out their boyfriend?”

“That’s not why I’m worried. It’s just…. part of the reason I have feelings for him is because he makes me feel special. What if, after we complete our bond or whatever, he stops showing me that side of him? Just because we’re destined to be together doesn’t mean I want him to assume he doesn’t have to try. I’m never the first choice and I don’t want to be walked all over again.”

“Let’s be real here, Blondie. That’s never gonna happen. I may hate to admit it, but that man is completely, embarrassingly, in love with you. He’s probably going to spend eternity trying to keep that dumb smile on your face.”

The girls left the store and decided to go for a drink. Caroline smiled before saying. “Enough about me. How are you and your long lost love doing?”

“We’re…. complicated. I still have feelings for him and he has feelings for me, but right now, things keep getting in the way.”

Caroline was about to apologize when a voice she didn’t know interrupted the conversation.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Marcel said from behind her. “The two vampires who ruined my plan and their unknown friend.”

“I’d apologize, but your plan was kinda dumb. And you rushed it which was even stupider.” Katherine said crossing her arms.

“Still, I need to hurt someone over what you did and your friend, well she’s just gonna have to be collateral damage.” Marcel gestured to someone behind the trio. They turned and saw four vampires behind them ready to attack. The three women quickly dealt with their attackers, but when they turned back around, even more vampires had joined Marcel. “I’m really starting to dislike you.”

“Too bad.” Katherine said. One of Marcel’s people got a lucky shot at Nadia and almost staked her in the heart. Katherine quickly pulled it out, but Caroline had seen enough. The blonde’s posture changed and she looked ready to kill. “Don’t.” Katherine warned the blonde, unwilling to risk Caroline being hurt or another massacre.

“Listen to your friend Blondie.” Marcel warned. “Most of us are older and stronger than you.”

Caroline grabbed the closest vampire by the throat and tore his heart out with her other hand. “Yeah, well I’m angrier.” She threw a second vampire across the room before turning to one of Marcel’s closest allies. Dropping her fangs, she bit into Diego’s neck before running over and biting another one of Marcel’s minions on the arm. Both vampires groaned instantly as her venom took affect.

“What are you?”

“It’s a long story and I don’t owe you an explanation. Suffice to say, there’s no cure for my bite.” Caroline helped Nadia up and, while Marcel was contemplating his next move, the three women sped out the door.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some timeline stuff because I realized it was a little all over the place:  
> Tuesday Morning-Caroline, Klaus tell the others about the prophecy/ MFG leaves for New Orleans  
> Tuesday Afternoon- Caroline goes to LSU  
> Tuesday Evening – Marcel confronts the girls/girls return to compound

 

The girls walked into the compound a little rattled. Nadia and Katherine knew that eventually Marcel would come looking for revenge, but with everything going on, they didn’t think it would be so soon. They also hadn’t expected Caroline to be brought into this mess or for the blonde to bite his followers and make an already complicated situation worse.

Klaus heard the trio enter the Abattoir and rushed downstairs to see how Caroline was. As he reached the ground floor, he could feel waves of agitation coming off of her and felt the same feelings, with an added bit of concern, coming from the Petrovas.

“What happened?” he asked.

“We ran into Marcel, who’s a little angry that we, but mostly me, ruined his plans for you.” Nadia said. “He tried to kill us, and he was going to kill Caroline just for being there.”

He then rushed over to Caroline, looking her over. “Are you alright love? How did you get away?”

“We fought back.” Caroline said in a small voice. “He said I was just collateral damage and then one of his friends almost killed Nadia and I got mad.” She looked away before she finished her story. “I bit two of his people, so he’s probably going to call you for help.”

“You bit two of his people?” Klaus asked shocked, and Caroline nodded. “Sweetheart, he doesn’t know my blood heals a werewolf bite.”

“He doesn’t?” Katherine and Nadia asked at the same time.

“No. I bit a friend of his when I first came to the city, but instead of curing him, I tore his heart out because Marcel made me angry.”

“So if he found out you could cure his people-“

“He’d owe me.” Klaus said. “And I know just the Ripper to tell him that.”

“Wait. Stefan’s coming?” Caroline asked.

“Yes. Your friends are worried that they haven’t heard from you. The Rippah also asked if he could stay a few days.”

“I knew they were coming here, Matt called me. But I didn’t know why they were coming.”

“They finally figured out where you are.” Katherine deadpanned. “And now they’re going to rescue you from the big bad hybrid, because, you know, why would you be here willingly?”

“Of course, because I can’t decide things for myself. Even if they came here, how would they get me to leave if I was compelled? It’s not like Bonnie’s a witch any longer or vervain works after the fact.”

“My less awesome shadow-self probably gave a witch some sob story or Damon threatened her.”

“All the same, I’d rather your friends attempts to rescue you not be so public.” He turned and yelled upstairs. “Bekah! We need to spend a few days at the mansion. Get your stuff.”

“Why are we going there Nik?” She said from the top of the stairs.

“The gang of toddlers from Mystic Falls is on their way to rescue Caroline. I’d rather they not run amok in my city. Elijah can keep an eye on things for a few days.”

“Idiots.” She scoffed.

* * *

 

**Outside Chattanooga, Tennessee**

Luckily for everyone, vampires could see at night. So what would have been a two-day trip, turned into one long day, with the four vampires and one hybrid taking shifts driving. Damon, Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, Tyler and Bonnie’s new witch friend Ana left Mystic Falls that morning and still had roughly six hours left to go.

“So what am I supposed to do when we get there?” Ana asked. All Elena had told her was that their friend needed help.

“You fry Klaus’s brain so that one of us can grab Blondie.” Damon replied, annoyed.

“That’s it? You made it seem like your friend was dying or something.”

“No, she’s just compelled.”

“And you know this for a fact?”

“She wouldn’t have disappeared and gone to New Orleans if she wasn’t.” bonnie shot back annoyed.

Stefan stayed silent in the backseat. He overheard Matt on the phone with Caroline shortly after Tyler told them where she was. Both could tell by her mannerisms that Caroline’s mind hadn’t been interfered with. He knew, and Klaus had confirmed, that Caroline was there of her own free will and could leave at any time if she wanted. The longer the ‘Save Caroline’ discussion dragged on, the happier Stefan was that Klaus agreed to let him stay.

* * *

 

**The Bayou-Barry Pack Camp**

After discovering Caroline’s true identity, the Barry pack found itself in a state of flux. Leaving the bayou so suddenly would raise alarms with other packs, specifically the Crescent wolves. The Alpha also couldn’t keep the truth of what he’d learned from his pack, since with any luck, they’d reap the benefits of the prophecy being fulfilled. In the end, jimmy convinced his father to share what was happening to the Elders and only the Elders. Fortunately, the Basque and North East Atlantic Pack came to the same conclusions.

 Jimmy and Mark couldn’t explain it, but a few hours earlier they were overcome with this worry that something bad was about to happen. Shortly after the sensation started, it went away but the experience frightened the two werewolves. Jimmy sat on one if the rocks by a pond contemplating the last few days. He was pulled from his musings when a man approached him. Something seemed off about him; he was indisputably a werewolf, but Jimmy sensed that he wasn’t entirely wolf. Strangely, that didn’t frighten him.

“Are you Jimmy?”

“Yeah.” He answered a little nervously. “Who are you?”

“Name’s Sam. I’m one of Klaus’ hybrids.”

“You were the one outside Caroline’s cabin, weren’t you? Why were you there?”

“I was asked to keep an eye on her. Now, I’ve been asked to bring you, and one of the North East wolves, to her.”

“Why? Why would she want to talk to me? I mean I feel like anything she wants to ask, Klaus or my dad could answer better.”

“Perhaps. The fact of the matter is, she requested you and your father said you could go.”

* * *

 

**The Bayou-Crescent Wolf Territory**

Hayley was talking to Mary about her parents when one of the wolves came running in. he was mid-twenties and had light brown hair.

“What is it Kyle?” Mary asked.

“Edith sensed something. She told me and two others to grab the Elders.” He said trying to catch his breath. He pointed at Hayley. “She also said to bring her. Something about her family.”

Hayley perked up and followed Mary and Kyle to wherever they were headed. She was curious about who Edith was and how whatever was going on was connected to her family. They entered a cabin and inside was a short woman who was at least 70 years old. Four wolves Hayley recognized but didn’t know and Jackson were also in the cabin.

“What did you feel, Edith?” Mary asked.

“An awakening.” The old woman said. “The Saskia clan has risen again.” The other wolves, except Hayley all gasped and looked scared. “It has already begun.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t grow up around here. Who are the Saskia clan and what has begun? And why did you need to see me?”

“The Saskia family was a royal bloodline of werewolves. For many centuries, we believed they died off. Many years ago, your ancestor Matthias attempted to kill their Alpha to protect his pack. Their family wanted to kill him and take over our pack. If that clan returns, all of us will die for what he did.”

“How do we stop it?” Jackson asked.

“We must kill the Alpha before he or she is found by their pack.”

“So who is it?” Hayley asked.

“I do not know. Something, or someone, is blocking me from learning the truth. All I know is that he or she is nearby.”

“We need to keep an eye on the other packs. For all we know they’re the remnants of the Saskia pack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, next chapter's gonna be real interesting (and not much fun for everyone)
> 
> In regards to the Crescent Wolves, I feel like everyone involved with what happened (Saskia, Avila, Labonair, etc) told a different version of what happened to their respective packs, in order to suit their goals. No one wants to admit that they're the bad guy.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're a big fan of Elena or Damon....this is not a fun chapter for you. There's a lot Caroline needs to say.

Rebekah, Klaus, Nadia and Caroline left that night and headed into Algiers to go to the Mikaelson mansion. The younger pair disappeared soon after arriving to explore the house, and get a chance for some girl talk. Elijah and Katherine had stayed behind to keep an eye on things. Katherine hadn’t decided whether or not she wanted to see the Mystic Falls Gang, caught in between never wanting to see them again and wanting to support Caroline. One way or another, things in Mystic Falls were about to change.

While Caroline and Nadia went exploring, Klaus and Rebekah were taking advantage of some much-needed sibling-bonding time. They sat in one of the parlors, each unsure of what to say. Both were worried about the guests from Mystic Falls and neither wanted to voice that worry.

“According to the Rippah, the toddlers will be arriving sometime tomorrow morning.” Klaus said, taking a drink and sounding almost bored.

“Good. I won’t need to reschedule my afternoon pedicure. Seriously though, Nik, why are we even allowing this farce to happen?”

“Caroline. They want to see her and I get the feeling that she has quite a bit to say to them. I just want them out of here and away from us as fast as possible.”

Rebekah nodded but said nothing. She’d known for a while that Caroline was going to be a fixture in Klaus’ life one way or another. Ignoring her personal issues with the blonde, Rebekah was kind of happy her favorite brother found someone to care about. She would never admit it, but Caroline’s behavior after Kol’s death made Rebekah respect Caroline much more than the others in Mystic Falls. Rebekah knew Kol valued Caroline as a friend, but it wasn’t until after his death that Rebekah knew for certain that Caroline returned the feeling.

“You know, for a long time I didn’t really see it.” Rebekah said.

“See what?”

“What’s so special about her. I mean, she’s attractive sure, and I suppose you could have fancied Bonnie or Elena which would have been way more annoying, but I never could see what made you pick her of all people.”

“So what changed?”

“She and Kol became friends. At first, I thought he befriended her just to mess with you. I’m pretty sure we all did, but then, after the first few ‘friend outings’ as he called it, I could hear how happy he was. It was like when we were children. I still didn’t like her, but I liked the way she brought out that side of him.”

“I hope you don’t still dislike her. My sister hating my soulmate would be…. difficult to deal with.”

“No, I don’t dislike her anymore. We’re not besties but she’s grown on me.”

“You’re becoming a sap in your old age.” Klaus teased.

“Laugh all you want, Nik. I’m just saying, she’s not the worst soulmate you could have.”

* * *

 Everyone was up early the next morning. Most, if not all, the vampires in the mansion wanted this situation with Elena ‘saving’ Caroline to be over and done with so they could focus on their real problems. Caroline sat in the kitchen, running through all the ways in which this meeting could go south. Most involved one of the visiting vampires doing something stupid and pissing off Klaus or Rebekah. The blonde almost-hybrid felt more annoyed than nervous about what was about to happen.

“Stefan texted me when they switched drivers. They’re about 45 minutes away.” Klaus said walking into the kitchen before turning and kissing Caroline on the forehead. “Now, love. I’d like to make a suggestion.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Give me a chance to get rid of them first. They have no real proof that you’re here, after all, and I’m sure you’d rather avoid a fight.”

“Fine.” Caroline said rolling her eyes. “But if at any point I decide I want a fight, we’re having one.”

Klaus’ rebuttal was cut off when everyone heard a car approaching. “Show time.”

 

Klaus walked out the front door and leaned against one of the pillars. He watched with a bored expression as Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Damon, Tyler and an unknown girl with light brown hair got out of the car. Rebekah followed him outside and stood smirking, while drinking her tea.

“Look, sister. It’s the gang of toddlers from Mystic Falls.”

“And here I thought they all died from their own stupidity.”

“See Stefan? I told you we found the right place. Who else besides the Originals would live in such a pompously large mansion?” Damon said smirking.

“May I ask why you’re here?”

“We’re here for Caroline.” Bonnie said stepping forward.

“That doesn’t explain why you’ve come to my home.”

“Cut the crap Klaus. We know she’s here, Hayley told me.” Tyler said.

Klaus moved away from the pillar and walked towards the group. “Ah, yes, Hayley. The wolf-girl who led your other hybrid friends to the slaughter. Not exactly the most reliable source of information now, is she?”

“We know she’s here Klaus! After Hayley told Tyler, Ana performed a locator spell. It said she was in New Orleans. Let us see her.” Elena yelled.

“Even if she is in New Orleans, why do you think I have her?”

“Because you’re you and Katherine is Katherine. She probably handed Blondie over to you in exchange for her freedom. “

“Then you compelled her to stay with you.” Elena said interrupting.

Klaus lost his composure when she said that. He sped over to Elena and grabbed her by the throat. “How dare you? I did not, and will not, ever compel Caroline. She’s here because she chooses to be and because she knows she has my protection if she needs it.”

“You’re wrong! Katherine probably manipulated her into coming down here to see you. She’s weak and she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Just let her go and we can take her home and help her. “

“How dare you” Caroline’s voice yelled from behind Klaus. The hybrid let go of Elena. Caroline heard everything from the kitchen and when Elena accused Klaus of compelling her, the blonde lost it. Anger over the last few days, and years of resentment came rushing to the front of Caroline’s mind. She was flanked by Rebekah and Nadia. “How dare you say that I’m weak? That I’m that easy to manipulate! I don’t need your help, Elena. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Yes there is Care!” Tyler yelled.

Caroline turned to face her ex-boyfriend. “You don’t get to talk to me like we’re friends.” She then turned back around. “I’m here because I want to be. I’m staying with Klaus because I want to and I’m friends with Katherine because I want to be.”

“You’re compelled! You can’t seriously want to be with him Caroline. After everything he’s done. After what he did to me?”

Caroline took a deep breath before looking Elena in the eyes. “Elena, since we were once good friends, I’m giving you one chance to let this go. Don’t open this particular can of worms.”

“I’m not letting it go! He killed me, his sister killed me and Ric, he killed Jenna. How can you want to be around him?”

“Did you ever think that maybe it’s not about you?” Caroline said. “No, because anyone doing anything always has to cycle back to Elena Fucking Gilbert. As long as you’re happy everyone else can go screw themselves.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? How about the fact that Damon, love of your life, you can’t live without him, Damon Salvatore raped me.” Klaus, Nadia and Rebekah looked murderous, while the group from Mystic Falls, except Ana, looked terrified. The witch looked disgusted.

“No he didn’t. You slept with him willingly.”

“Really? Because I have very vivid memories of telling him to stop and trying to push him off me, and those actions being ignored by Damon. And even if I did sleep with him willingly the first time, that doesn’t mean I wanted to during the several weeks where I was compelled.” Caroline spat out. The blonde then punched Elena in the face, hard enough for the brunette to slam into the car. “And when I got my memories back, and I tried to deal with knowing all the shit he put me through, I was forced to spend all my free time in the same room as him, trying to save your pathetic life. You only want to help me because you don’t like that I can think for myself now.”

Rebekah rushed forward when it looked like Damon was about to step in and save his girlfriend, and broke his neck. Klaus sent her a grateful, yet annoyed look. Caroline then grabbed Elena by the chin, while Nadia held the doppelganger in place. “So, you see. I don’t want or need your help.“ she broke Elena neck and turned to Tyler and Bonnie. “Now let’s talk about you two.”

“What about us?” Tyler asked worried. Caroline had gotten stronger and seemed a lot angrier with everyone from Mystic Falls in general.

“Well you cheated on me with that wereslut. Then, you blamed me for your stupid plan failing and would rather try to kill Klaus than be with me. So, congratulations, I hate you. Bonnie, well, you never really saw me as a friend, did you?”

“Yes, I did Caroline. You’re one of m-“

“Really? Then how come I had to go through my transition alone? How come Elena got a daylight rings handed to her while I had to beg you and you still threatened to dispel it. I killed one person when I was less than a day old and you held that against me for months. You treated me like trash for being murdered. Do you have any idea how screwed up that is?”

“Care, I-“

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear your excuses. Just leave. I never want to see any of you again. “ Caroline turned to head back inside. Tyler and Bonnie rushed to grab the unconscious forms of Elena and Damon before Klaus could grab them. As Caroline walked back up the front steps, Ana spoke for the first time.

“I…I’m sorry. They lied to me. They told me you were kidnapped.” The witch looked unsure of if this was a good idea.

“They lie a lot. I’m sorry you were dragged into this.” Caroline then walked up to Klaus. “Now you know why I didn’t want you to kill Katherine or Nadia.”

“What do you mean?”

“Katherine worked out why I disliked Damon so much. She’s the only person who told me I wasn’t being stupid for feeling the way I did. There’s a lot I can say about her, but she helped me when no one else would.”

* * *

 

Damon woke up right as Caroline was finished speaking. “Brother, our rescue attempt failed. You coming or what?”

“Actually, I’m staying. I need a change of scenery, and I’m sick of all of you. Go back to Mystic Falls and stay there. You deserve each other.” Stefan said, grabbing his bag from the car and walking off. Caroline walked over and hugged him.

Damon shrugged and got into the car. He was about to drive off when he heard a hiss come from the trunk. Everyone turned around and saw an unknown woman standing next to one of the wheels. Getting out, Damon saw that she tore a hole into one of the tires.

“I didn’t say you lot could leave.” Klaus said ominously. “I do have a bone to pick with quite a few of you. Nat, if you would.” The woman, or hybrid rather, sped over and broke Tyler’s neck before dragging him into the mansion. Klaus walking menacingly towards the vehicle.

“Klaus don’t kill them.” Caroline said in a quiet voice.

“You can’t be serious! After everything you said, after everything they put you through, you still want to save them?” Rebekah asked incredulous.

“I don’t want to save them, I just don’t want them to die today. It’s a subtle difference. If I ever see them again, I will kill them myself.” Caroline then walked inside.

Klaus rushed after her and pulled her by the arm into one of the sitting rooms. He stared at her for a few moments before pulling her into a hug. “I’m proud of you sweetheart.” Caroline gave him a questioning look so he continued. “You handled them like a true queen, and a true alpha.”

The blonde smiled but looked exhausted. “I…I’m gonna go have some ‘me time’ since that whole situation was very irritating and tiring.” Caroline said pointing behind her.


	27. Flashback Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief glimpse into Kol's interactions with Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah

**Mystic Falls One Year Ago**

“I cannot believe you are so immature.” Elijah deadpanned at his younger brother.

“Come on, ‘Lijah. Its not like you can’t just buy another suit.” Kol defended. Shortly after Caroline left after their paintballing excursion, Elijah arrived home to find Kol cleaning paint off of his clothes using Elijah’s six thousand dollar suit jacket as a cleaning rag.

“That’s not the point. You’re old enough to know better.”

“Just because I know better doesn’t mean I wont do something. By that logic, you wouldn’t chase after Katerina Petrova and Beks would stop introducing her boyfriends to Nik.”

“How do you know about Katerina and I?”

“I might’ve been left out of ‘Always and Forever’ but you’re still my brother.” Kol retorted in a tight voice. He then got a smirk on his face once more and said, “I have to tell Caroline she was right.”

“What was Miss Forbes right about?”

“She predicted that you’d lecture me about getting paint on your fancy suits.”

Elijah huffed and stood up. “Be that as it may, you owe me a new suit when I return.“

“Return from where?”

“I’ve heard rumor of someone plotting against us. As the eldest, I feel it’s my responsibility to check it out. “

“Call me if you want help killing them."

* * *

 

**A few months later**

“Do you always have to watch this garbage?” Kol asked Rebekah when eh walked into the mansion’s living room.

“It’s not garbage!” the blonde defended.

“You’ve been watching this man, who’d probably not even into women, try and pick a wife for the last four hours. How exciting can it be? It’s probably not even real.”

“Of course its real! Why else would it be called reality TV? No one’s making you watch anyway.”

“True. But I can’t hear my Xbox over the sound of these whiny girls talking about the ‘deep connection’ they made with a man they just met two days ago.“

“Why don’t you go bug someone else then? Like Nik or Caroline?”

“Nik’s being all moody again because of his hybrid mess. Caroline is too busy dealing with the whole ‘cure situation’ as she calls it.”

“Imagine the look on their faces when they find out its fake.” Rebekah said smiling.

“Oh, I’m anxiously awaiting that moment. I may even bring a camera to document it. The point is, she’s not answering my calls.”

“Aw. Does someone feel left out?” She teased.

“No, I’m bored. And you are my favorite sister.”

“I’m your only sister, idiot.”

“You forgetting about dear, dead Freya.”

“You’ve never met her, she doesn’t count. Look, I’m busy watching this garbage as you call it. Even if I wasn’t, I’ve dealt with you enough over the last ten centuries. Go away.”

* * *

 

**A few days later**

“Why do I have to fake trying to kill the Hunter again?” Kol asked Klaus for the fifth time.

“Because, we’ve already established that Bekah wants to be human, I want more hybrids and Elijah’s gone. We need another sibling around to create tension.”

“Or, you could compel someone to actually kill him.”

“No, I’m holding off until the doppelganger really makes me angry.”

“What if I fake compel someone though?”

“What do you mean?”

“I compel someone, let's say Damon, and make him think he needs to kill Jeremy. I’ll word it carefully enough so that he doesn’t actually kill him, but it should freak the lot of them out, right? Best-case scenario, Elena’s brother is forced to kill the love of her life. ”

“Complex, unnecessarily cruel, you’re starting to sound like me. I like it.”

“Don’t insult me like that.” Kol deadpanned. “Seriously though, how can we be sure this will work?”

“We’re Originals, Kol. It’s gonna take more than a baby vampire and a newbie hunter to stop us.”

* * *

 

**The day after Kol dies**

Rebekah and Klaus stood silently in one of the parlors of the mansion. Caroline had just left after saying her goodbyes to Kol and now the siblings were waiting for Elijah to arrive. A conversation days earlier was weighing heavily on Klaus’ mind.

“Do you remember-“

“Remember what, Nik?”

“The last thing you said to him. I…. I told him it would take more than a baby vampire to stop us. Turns out, I was wrong.”

“Well, we didn’t see a psychotic Bennett witch coming.”

“That we didn’t. But, what was the last thing you said to him?”

“I told him to go away. I said I’d dealt with enough of him already and told him to leave.”

“I yelled at him about my suits.” Elijah said from the doorway. “He got paint on one of them and I lectured him about maturity.”

“Well, his immaturity was what made Kol, Kol.” Rebekah said smiling sadly.

“Indeed. Am I being optimistic in assuming the culprits have already been dealt with?” Elijah asked.

“Not really, brother. Bekah orchestrated the hunter’s death and Shane is dead as well. The others are waiting is suspense.”

“Who exactly are these ‘others’? Not Miss Forbes I hope.” Elijah questioned. He knew Elena and the Salvatores were involved, along with the Bennett witch. The eldest Mikaelson hoped Kol’s only real friend played no part in his death.

“She didn’t know until she walked in on Tyler Lockwood gloating about it.” Klaus answered. “You actually just missed her. She’s the one who brought him home.”

“It was Elena, her brother, Bonnie, Shane, the Salvatores, Tyler and that brunette werewolf Hayley.” Rebekah spat out. “I don’t care what happens with the others, but the witch is mine.”

“Fair enough. Any particular plans?”

“Well, the mutt ran off and I know exactly what I’m going to do to him. Elena is suffering as is, but I may decide that’s not enough.” Klaus said menacingly. “The Salvatores I’m luring into a false sense of security.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone requested I write something where Kol interacts with other people, and this was the result. 
> 
> I feel like, going forward, the way the Mikaelsons deal with certain people is effected not only by anger over losing their brother but guilt over their last interaction with Kol. They never expected to lose Kol, but they have and now there's a lot of regret.


	28. Chapter 28

Tyler woke up in some sort of basement dungeon. He tried to speed out of the room he was held in, only to find a barrier at the doorway.

“I took the precaution of having a rather powerful with spell this room. It’s a rather ingenious spell, actually. Vampires can enter the room, but need a Mikaelson's permission to leave it.” Klaus said standing on the other side of the doorway.

“What do you want from me?”

“Revenge. For making me kill some of my hybrids, for my brother, just because.” The original said calmly.

“Caroline’s never gonna stop hating you if you kill me.”

“I believe she already hates you, so I doubt it. Besides, I never said I was going to kill you. After all, I do not owe you a favor.”

“What are you going to do to me?” For the first time in months, Tyler felt real fear running down his spine.

“You’ll see.” Klaus said before turning and walking upstairs.

* * *

 

When Klaus got to the main level, he debated what he should do next. On the one hand, they only had so much time before Marcel’s two friends died from Caroline’s bite. On the other, Caroline and her emotional well-being was more important than any one vampire. The decision was made for him when Stefan approached him.

“Rippah.”

“Hey. I got the sense from Rebekah that you needed to talk to me about something.”

“And what did my sister tell you?” the hybrid asked.

“Not much. Just that, as an outsider, I could be useful. If you don’t need my help, just say so.”

“Oh, I do. I just wanted to make sure my little sister didn’t mix up the facts when telling you what you need to know. Especially where Caroline is concerned.”

“What? Is she ok? I mean, I know she’s physically fine, but no one knew why she came down here in the first place.”

“I don’t have time to delve into the minutia but Caroline is safest here. Due to forces that were set in motion before I was even born, Caroline is…changing. Into a hybrid I believe.”

“What? How is that even…. is that even possible?”

“It must be because it’s happening. Anyway, she bit some associated of a rival. One who doesn’t know my blood can heal them.”

“And you want me to meet him and let that little fact slip out? Maybe get you some insider information.”

“Exactly. The sooner the better, seeing as she bit them yesterday.” Stefan nodded and got up to leave. “Oh, and I should warn you. Katerina and my brother have…reunited. Any attempt to kill her or win her back will not end well for you.”

“I’m not the Salvatore you need to worry about, but thanks for the heads up. I’m taking your Range Rover.” Stefan left a few seconds later.

* * *

 Caroline had finally calmed down after her confrontation with the Mystic Falls visitors and decided to seek Klaus out. She found him in one of the sitting rooms, glaring at a glass of bourbon.

“What did the bourbon ever do to you?” she said in lieu of greeting.

“Nothing, save being unable to give me answers. How are you, love?”

She shrugged and sat down. “I’m ok, I guess. Or, as ok as I can be when I just ended two life-long friendships and I have a creepy prophecy hanging over my head. How are you? I mean, a lot of information I’d rather you not know came to light today and I-”

“Let me guess, you’re worried I’m reconsidering how I feel about you or if I still want you or if I resent you for not letting me kill them?” Caroline nodded but didn’t speak. “Yes, I want to kill Damon, and given a second chance, I will. I feel the same about you as I did yesterday and nothing on this earth will make me not want you.”

Caroline was about to reply when there was a knock on the front door. Klaus got up to answer it and Caroline followed out of curiosity. Klaus opened the door to find Sam, Jimmy and Cary, one of the North East wolves, standing on the doorstep.

“You, um, wanted to see us. Or at least, that’s what Sam said.” Jimmy told the pair nervously.

Caroline looked at Klaus in confusion before the original spoke. “Please come in.”

“Klaus, why are they here? It’s not a problem but-“

“We need answers about werewolf politics from someone we can trust. Judging by Jimmy’s reluctance to let you leave the bayou, I don’t think he means you any ill-will.”

“Ok, but what about him?” Caroline said pointing to Cary. “I don’t know which pack he’s from.”

“I’m from the same pack as Klaus, albeit several generations later. You’re Jimmy’s Alpha and Klaus is ours. He’s what drew us here months ago.”

“Really? When?”

“April.”

“That’s-“

“Right after Kol died and I left Mystic Falls.” Klaus finished for her. “The Travellers did say that’s when our bonding began.”

“Look, what is this about?” Jimmy asked. “I get the sense the Travellers told you something that made you seek us out.”

“Yes, we met Markos, and he told us some things about the prophecy. But when I mentioned the Crescent wolves, he said I needed to ask a werewolf. So we’re asking a werewolf. Why doesn’t the Crescent Pack want the prophecy fulfilled?”

“I told you, they fear they’ll be punished for what her ancestor did.” Jimmy said.

“That’s not all though.” Cary interrupted. “They fear recompense, that’s true. But their fear is also related to why Hayley’s ancestor did what he did. He wanted to rule.”

“What?”

“If two Alphas marry, their packs become one. The Labonair Alpha who caused all this believed whichever royal male Alpha married Theadora would basically become the king of all werewolves.”

“How does that make sense?”

“For a long time, everyone thought werewolves worked kinda like vampires. All vampires trace back to an Original; all werewolves traced back to a royal bloodline, or so they thought. By that logic, every werewolf either follows a royal Alpha or was exiled by one and had to form their own pack. That’s obviously not the case.”

“But Mathias believed it was?”

“At the time, we didn’t know how or why werewolves came to be. Anyway, due to some legend and paranoia on his part, it was believed that if two of the royal bloodlines married not only would their packs become one, but all packs would become one. If that happened, Mathias would have lost his position as an Alpha and all his power. Obviously, pack hierarchy and pack dynamics aren’t so straightforward.”

“So he wanted to marry Theadora so he could become ‘the Alpha of all Alphas’ but she left before he could.”

“Exactly. His pack was told Theadora wanted to take over his pack and he attempted to kill her. Their descendants think you’ll kill them if the prophecy is fulfilled.“

"Actually, I'd just kill Hayley. But not because of her ancestors." Caroline pointed out.


	29. Chapter 29

After a short drive into the city and a short, awkward reunion with Katherine and Elijah, Stefan headed towards Rousseau’s. Klaus had mentioned that Marcel, the vampire he needed be deal with, spent quite a bit of time in that bar. The younger Salvatore figured it was the best place to start his mission.

He walked in, sat down at the bar and quietly ordered a bourbon. The bartender obliged, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone look between him and another person, nod once and leave. Sighing, Stefan began making small talk with the bartender, Camille, until he felt a presence behind him. He slowly turned around and found himself face-to-face with a young African-American man.The man had brought a few friends with him.

“Can I help you?” Stefan asked, wanting to give off an air of ignorance.

“Yeah, you can tell me who you are and who sent you here.” Marcel said.

“My name’s Stefan Salvatore, and I don’t know what you mean ‘who sent me’.”

“We don’t get many outside vampires around here. No one comes here without a reason.” One of Marcel’s lackeys said.

“I didn’t say I didn’t have a reason, I said no one sent me. There’s a difference.” Stefan pointed out.

“Fine, why are you here then?” Marcel asked.

“I hung around the place I live for a little too long. People started to get suspicious. A big city 500 miles away seemed like a good idea.” Stefan said shrugging.

“Well, we have rules here.” Marcel stated. “Name’s Marcel, this is my city. Follow my rules or else you won’t like the outcome.” He then told Stefan the rules.

“Ok.” Stefan said before looking past Marcel at one of his minions. “Is your friend okay? He looks-”

“He’s fine and it’s not your concern.” Marcel cut him off.

Stefan raised his arms in surrender. “Hey, I’m not trying to butt in. I’ve just…seen someone looking like that before.”

“You have?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing werewolf or hybrid bite, right?” Stefan asked rhetorically. “A friend got bitten a few years back. Luckily, I was able to find the cure before it killed her.”

“There’s a cure?” marcel asked optimistically.

“Yeah, but I’d recommend just letting him die. It’s better than dealing with him.”

“Dealing with who?”

“You don’t want to go there, trust me.” Stefan said, knowing Marcel would keep pushing.

“I’d rather trust my own judgment. Dealing with who?”

“Klaus Mikaelson. The Original.”

“How do you know Klaus?” Marcel asked, rightfully suspicious.

“He came to my town, killed my girlfriend, brought a whole bunch of trouble, including other hybrids and I tried to kill him twice.” Stefan said honestly. “Needless to say, we’re not friends.”

“But he knows what the cure is?”

“He is the cure. Well, his blood is. Problem is, Klaus doesn’t do anything for free, so that blood is going to cost you.” Stefan said. “Seriously though, the best thing you can do is let your friend die.”

Marcel scoffed but didn’t reply and Stefan took this as a dismissal.

 

“Do you…I mean, does anyone know how exactly this prophecy get fulfilled?” Caroline asked. So far every what, who and why about the situation had been answered, but they still weren’t clear on how.

“We…can talk about that later, love. “ Klaus stepped in to say. He knew what it entailed but didn’t want to have the werewolf ‘birds and the bees’ discussion in front of other people. “I assume it isn’t a different process than a normal werewolf mating?”

Jimmy and Cary both shook their heads. “The only difference, according to legend, is that you both need to accept your destinies for it to work.” Cary said. Both werewolves were relieved that they didn’t have to explain mating to Caroline.

Caroline was about to ask another question when Klaus’ phone rang.

“Hello?..... Ah Marcellus…oh really, that is unfortunate…I suppose I could at least stop by…” Klaus said. He quickly hung up and turned to Caroline smiling. “Well, Stefan did his job. I’m off to heal Marcel’s idiotic friends and win back my city.”

 

Tyler was stuck in his prison, letting his mind wander and allowing him to fear the worst. What more could Klaus do to him? He had no family left, his friends were three states away if they were smart, and his girlfriend was apparently into Klaus now. Tyler couldn’t think of anything else the Original could do and that terrified him. up until now, Tyler was always aware of what he still had to lose.

The young hybrid was woken from his reverie when he heard footsteps. Turning to look, he saw an unknown redhead walking towards his ‘cell’. She entered and began placing things Tyler couldn’t see on a table.

“What do you want?”

“I’m here to do my job. It’s nothing personal.” The woman said, not looking up.

“And what exactly is that job? What does the almighty hybrid want with me?” Tyler practically yelled.

“He wants to help you get back to normal.” She answered nonchalantly. She seemed finished setting up and finally turned to face him. “I’m afraid this is going to hurt.”

Before Tyler could speak, or even blink, it felt like his entire body was on fire and he blacked out.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, I needed to get a few minor events over and done with before actual plot could progress

Klaus was practically skipping when he walked towards Marcel’s ‘headquarters’. The hybrid was excited to have his former progeny right where he wanted him. He still couldn’t believe his luck. Caroline biting Marcel’s people was an unexpected, but not unwelcome, surprise. Klaus tried not to look too happy as he entered the building.

"Klaus, my man.” Marcel greeted him.

“Marcellus. What is this thing I quote, ‘need to see’ end quote?”

“Upstairs.” Marcel said leading the way. “Now, I just want to preface this.”

“I’m listening.”

“Me and my guys were just having a few drinks when we came across this hot blonde who I thought was a werewolf. Now, they’re not exactly welcome in my city, as you know, so I politely told the young lady to leave. She freaked out and bit two of my guys.” They entered a room with two men lying on couches. One looked dead already while the other was groaning and most likely hallucinating.

“Ah, and when was this?”

“Two days ago.”

“There wasn’t a full moon two days ago.”

“Like I said, I thought she was a werewolf. Turns out, she’s a hybrid.”

“Why’d you call me here?”

“I heard from…a semi-reliable source that you know the cure to a werewolf bite. I figure hybrids bites can’t be that different.”

“Your information is correct. I do know how to cure them. But why should I? How does keeping them alive” Klaus gestured to the two dying vampires, “help me in any way?”

Marcel didn’t really have an answer to that. After a few minutes of silence, Klaus chuckled. “I guess you’ll just have to owe me one.” The hybrid walked over to one of the tables and bled into a glass. “That should be just enough to heal them. I’ll be in touch.”

 

When Tyler came to, he felt…. different. He knew he was still a hybrid, he could feel it, but something was off. It was almost like he’d just woken up from a very long nap or something. He was groggy and disoriented. He sat up and saw the redhead woman, redheaded witch, putting things away.

“What…. what did you do to me?”

“Magic is a funny thing.” Klaus said from the doorway. “Very few spells have permanent loopholes or reversals.”

“Cut the crap. What did she do?”

“She reformed your sire bond to me.”

“What? That…. that’s not possible. I have nothing to be grateful to you for anymore.”

“Oh, it’s not rooted in gratitude. It’s rooted in your hatred of me. Hatred you will never let go.” Klaus smirked and sauntered away.

 

“What are we going to do?” Elena said as she paced her hotel room.

“This may be survival instinct talking, but go home?” Bonnie suggested.

“We can’t just leave Caroline behind!”

“It seems to me like she’s exactly where she wants to be.” Damon said.

“What about Stefan? Or Tyler?”

“Stefan made his choice, and he picked Klaus, for whatever reason. As for Tyler, well he was an idiot for coming within a hundred miles of Klaus to begin with.”

“Do what you want, Damon. I’m not leaving them behind.” Elena said with determination.


	31. Chapter 31

**The Bayou**

“Any luck identifying our mystery Alpha? Or is the Spirit world not feeling very chatty?” Hayley asked. She’d been ‘summoned’ for lack of a better term by Mary to discuss the Saskia Alpha

“Do not disrespect the spirits, little girl.” Edith shot back. “We thrive from their guidance.”

“We’re stuck in a swamp.”

“We’re alive. Our pack is alive. That’s more than dozens of others can say.” Mary responded. “And no, we haven’t figured out which wolf it is yet. The spirits gave us a name, but it’s a dead end.”

“How can the name be a dead end?”

“The name they gave _‘Vigan'_  . Not only is there no wolf blood line with that name, there isn’t a family that has that name anywhere in the US.”

“Ok, so maybe he or she isn’t from around here. People do move and crap like that. Plus, the name’s Russian or something like that.” one of the wolves piped up.

“So we’re looking for a Russian person, in Louisiana, with the last name ‘Vigan’. Shouldn’t be that hard.” Hayley said shrugging and leaving.

* * *

 

**Marcel’s Headquarters**

With Diego and Tom both cured of their hybrid bites, Marcel turned his attention to the woman who nearly killed them. As soon as Klaus left, he called a meeting of all his people. This meant war.

“There is a hybrid somewhere in this city. Blonde, about 5’9”, kinda has a beauty queen type of vibe to her. She was last seen with Katherine Pierce and Nadia Petrova.” Marcel said addressing the crowd. “I want her found and I want her brought to me alive.”

“You want us to hunt down some bitch that could kill us? You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am.” Marcel said walking up so he was nose-to-nose with the person who spoke. “We already have one hybrid stirring up trouble. We don’t need another and this one is easier to kill.”

* * *

 

**Mikaelson Mansion**

Stefan returned from his errand into the city and began to settle in. after his few belongings were unpacked, he sought out Caroline. He owed her an explanation, an apology, something to make up for killing Kol and everything that happened after. He found her sitting in one of the living rooms talking quietly to a young man who smelled like a werewolf.

“Stefan!” Caroline yelled excitedly.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt.”

“It’s fine. I should get going anyways.” Jimmy said standing. “It would be suspicious if I’m not back in the bayou by sundown.”

“Well, thanks for stopping by and explaining things before I freaked out too much.” Caroline said. The werewolf gave a small smile, nodded and left.

The two vampires spent the next several hours catching up. They tried to steer clear of topics like Elena, Damon, the cure, and whatever was happening to Caroline. As a result, the conversation revolved around how Matt was doing and when might be a good time to go visit her mom. Their conversation was cut short when, right after nightfall, Caroline felt an indescribable pain in her chest.

She barely managed to say “Find Klaus,” before passing out. Stefan froze for a millisecond before speeding off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in case anyone's wondering, 'Forbes' translates to 'field' in Scottish. 'Vigan' is the bastardized Russian equivalent of 'pasture' which is a synonym of 'field'. The wolf spirits are giving correct, if not vague nad likely to get lost in translation, answers.


End file.
